St. CLOUD, Fla. – A domestic dispute at a home in St. Cloud led to a woman’s death and the surrender of a man who fired shots upon officers’ arrival, according to police.
Jose Manuel Otero-Fontanez, 48, was arrested Saturday in the shooting death of his wife, a St. Cloud Police Department spokesperson said in a news release. Otero-Fontanez faces charges of first-degree murder and murder while engaged in the aggravated abuse of an elderly person, records show.
Dispatchers around 6:41 p.m. began receiving 911 calls from a home along Nottel Drive about a domestic argument, the release states. Officers were met with gunfire when they arrived, yet they did not return fire and opted to deploy a drone to enter the home, police said, adding the drone came under gunfire once inside.
After a crisis negotiator managed to call Otero-Fontanez and talk him into surrendering, police entered the house and located his wife’s body in a bathroom, according to the release. Two children who were in the house at the time — an adult and a juvenile — were able to escape unharmed, the release states.
Otero-Fontanez was booked into the Osceola County Jail early Sunday, police said.
“Although we are very early in the investigation, the crime that occurred here tonight is tragic and senseless,” St. Cloud police Chief Douglas Goerke said in a statement. “Our hearts go out to the children who lost their parents here tonight. We will be working with them to get the resources they will need to cope with what happened here.”
This is a developing story. Check back with News 6 for updates.
Note: This map depicts the general area of this scene and not necessarily its exact location.
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