VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood announced an update after a shooting near Ormond-by-the-Sea on Thanksgiving, where a man fired at nearby condo units and law enforcement before being shot and killed by a SWAT sniper, according to the sheriff’s office.
Shortly after the shooting happened, investigators announced that the man had fired over 200 rounds at neighbors and deputies before being taken out.
“I underestimated,” Chitwood said on Thursday, one week after the shooting. ”I said the Thanksgiving shooter in Ormond-by-the-Sea fired 200+ rounds at neighbors and deputies. It turns out he fired more than 700. Thank God not a single one of them struck an innocent person, and thank God for the safety of my deputies.”
We also have to thank great training and great equipment. Including things like ballistic shields, drones, the SWAT Bearcat, and the Rook. There are critics out there who like to say that equipment makes us "militarized." pic.twitter.com/rkEf5rfNXT
— Mike Chitwood (@SheriffChitwood) December 5, 2024
On the morning of the shooting, the sheriff’s office issued statements on social media warning residents to avoid the area of the Kingston Shores condominiums, located at 5500 Ocean Shore Blvd. Deputies said the man had shot rounds outside of a condo and neighboring units, as well as at a sheriff’s office vehicle.
Neighbors were evacuated and traffic was rerouted, the statements read. Through the morning, the sheriff’s office continued urging people in the area to stay away while officials worked toward reaching a resolution. By 11:30 a.m., the sheriff’s office said the man was still shooting.
But shortly after noon, Chitwood announced in a news conference that the man had been shot and killed by a sniper with the sheriff’s office’s SWAT team.
Chitwood said the man was born in 1968, was “snowbirding” in Florida and was being treated by the VA out of Connecticut. The sheriff added that the shooter was alone in the unit — which Chitwood described as an Airbnb — because “his family was so scared of him (that) they relocated north” to the Palm Coast area.
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Deputies had been called to the area early that morning regarding a person with suicidal thoughts and wanting some help, Chitwood explained during the conference.
“We were out there three times in the last four days. I think we were out there for a well-being check, they were out there to serve the ex-parte order that had not been signed and then we were out there for the medical issue earlier this morning, and obviously right there when (he) started firing shots,” Chitwood said.
After the man refused to go to the hospital, multiple calls came in alleging he was shooting at other residents’ properties, Chitwood continued, adding that the man barricaded himself after deputies arrived.
“I’m sure when you’ll see the crime scene, some of the apartments are littered, the façade is just shot up. There’s rounds in people’s homes,” Chitwood stated. “He shot at our negotiators, at the speaker on the truck. He shot at the SWAT truck when it pulled up. He retreated into a back bedroom. We were able to send in tear gas and kind of corner him, but it was obvious that he wasn’t coming out. He was armed with at least a shotgun, a handgun and a Tommy gun.”
No other injuries were reported from the scene, according to investigators.
“He wouldn’t talk to us. He responded with gunfire every time they would get on. ‘Hey, you know, this is deputy so-and-so, turn your phone on, we’re here to help, we’re trying to get a hold of the VA. We- you know, there’s no reason to be doing this.’ And they were met with a barrage of gunfire...” Chitwood said. “The family told us he only had two guns and, like, one clip. Well, you know, for all these hours we were out there, somebody wasn’t paying attention because he was armed for Armageddon, is what he was armed for.”
Neighbor Jason Valiant told News 6 that he heard the shots fired.
“Oh my Gosh. We were just having Thanksgiving a few minutes ago or trying to watch the parade on TV, and then it was just big guns, big tanks, a lot more than you would expect to see,” he said. “All the neighbors started texting each other and saying, ‘Hey, this is real. There’s a shooter.’ And within a few minutes, all the cops were here, and the tanks were in, and the big armor proof forklift is here.”
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting, according to Chitwood.
News 6 is presently not naming or showing the man.
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