ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – SWAT deputies shot and killed a man accused of holding his own child hostage in an Orange County home after he shot and stabbed the child’s mother, according to Sheriff John Mina.
Deputies were called around 5 p.m. Friday to the home near the intersection of Colony Oaks Lane and North Hiawassee Road. Investigators initially said one person was taken to the hospital after a domestic shooting and the attacker — Deshaun Albert Dunmyer, 31, refused to come out of the residence.
Mina gave more details of the situation at a news conference early Saturday.
“He shot and stabbed the mother of his child. He held his own child hostage for several hours and refused to surrender. He did have a gun and we were in fear for the child’s safety and had to take action,” Mina said. “Our SWAT team members, they train for this year-round. Very proud of their actions and so thankful that the child was okay.”
According to Mina, the mother was hospitalized in critical condition and was in surgery at the time of the update. As of Monday afternoon, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said the mother remains in the hospital. The child was unharmed.
During the standoff, Dunmyer was allegedly “talking past tense and praying,” which Mina said contributed to fears for the child’s safety. After several hours of negotiations, SWAT deputies breached the door and fatally shot Dunmyer, according to the sheriff.
“Any time a child is involved, these type of situations, we take so many precautions. Our goal is to peacefully negotiate, have this person surrender peacefully, but he’d already shot and stabbed the mother of the child. He was making statements that made us fear for the safety of that child and unfortunately, our deputies had to take that action but did save the baby’s life,” Mina said.
A reporter at the news conference pressed Mina to comment on allegations that the child’s grandmother arrived to the scene and was “slammed” on the hood of a vehicle by one of his deputies when she tried running toward the situation.
“So, the only thing I’ll say about that is that anytime we have a subject who’s barricaded in a house with a firearm, you’re gonna have to let law enforcement do their job, and we understand that family members are gonna get very emotional but the last thing we need is a family member going in there and becoming a hostage themselves,” Mina said.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will investigate the incident before turning its findings over to the State Attorney’s Office, then to the sheriff’s office for internal review, Mina said, adding body-worn camera video of the situation would be released in 30 days. The deputies who fired their weapons are on temporary, paid administrative leave pending the initial FDLE review, according to the sheriff’s office.
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