ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A man accused of strangling his ex-girlfriend and setting her house on fire fired a handgun at a deputy twice before he was ultimately shot Friday night, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
Records show the first call about 43-year-old Phillip Francis came in around 3:20 p.m. when his ex-girlfriend said that he had strangled her. A report was taken and the woman decided to stay elsewhere because she was afraid of what Francis would do if he returned to her home on Ridgemont Road, the report said.
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A few hours later, at about 5:30 p.m., deputies said they learned that the victim’s house was set on fire and when they arrived, they found a gas can and evidence that someone had forced their way inside the home.
A safe containing a gun was also stolen during the incident, according to the affidavit.
Deputies said they realized the violence was escalating and began to draft an arrest warrant for Francis while the victim and her family were inside the burned home trying to salvage their belongings.
Orange County Sheriff John Mina said deputies were also trying to locate Francis at that time.
“We were out looking for him. We knew what kind of car he was driving and then he returned back to the scene and that’s when the incident happened,” Mina said.
Records show Francis came back for a third time as deputies were still at the home. Deputy Sheriff William Hatch saw the suspect’s silver Infiniti pull up, so he got out of his marked patrol car to approach Francis before he could reach the victim, according to the affidavit.
“He came up really fast, like intentionally want to do something and we don’t know if he was targeting the deputies at first, but when the deputies were there, ‘That’s him, that’s the car,’” Mina said. “He got out of the car, immediately started firing at the deputies.”
The report said Francis got out of his vehicle, turned toward Hatch and “immediately fired two rounds at him from a handgun.”
Hatch returned fire, striking Francis an unknown number of times. He was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center in critical condition. As of Monday, Francis has not been booked into the Orange County Jail.
No deputies were injured during the shooting and Mina said the strangulation victim is OK as well.
The sheriff’s office said it has turned the case over to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which is standard procedure for deputy-involved shootings.
OCSO said Hatch has been with the agency since September 2016 and is on temporary, paid administrative leave pending the FDLE findings.
Orange County court records show the ex-girlfriend filed a petition for protection from dating violence against Francis on Dec. 16, 2020, stating their relationship had ended and Francis would not leave her alone.
In the 12-page petition, the ex-girlfriend wrote Francis had “sent threatening texts and excessive phone calls which led to my car being vandalized.”
The petition includes a photo of a damaged steering column and a screenshot of text messages that read, “i going to pull up on u so u better call opd cause am done playing,” and “Just know when i make a call, (expletive) happens if u forget and as we speak am making calls night.”
A judge denied the restraining order petition ruling, “the petitioner has failed to allege facts sufficient to support the entry of an injunction for protection... because destruction of property does not constitute an act of violence... uncivil even threatening behaviors do not constitute acts of violence under Florida statues.”