UPDATE (11-30-18): VCSO identifies the suspect as 68-year-old Noel Flores. The other man was 44-year-old Arthur Johnson, a nephew of Flores' dead wife. Investigators think Flores shot him before he shot himself.
Body camera footage showing part of the incident has also been released by VCSO.
Earlier reporting below.
UPDATE (11-30-18): The suspect in this incident passed away soon after arrival at a nearby hospital this morning.
VCSO spokesperson Andrew Gant says the entire incident unfolded around 7 o'clock last night when deputies were trying to arrest the suspect - yet to be identified - for bomb threats made by phone recently to the Volusia County Courthouse in DeLand.
"While those deputies were on scene, they heard gunshots from the suspect’s apartment," Gant added. "Deputies began evacuating the surrounding apartments as backup units responded to the complex. Moments later, the suspect called 911 and spoke for several minutes with a Sheriff’s Office telecommunicator, telling her he had just shot a man and was planning on taking his own life rather than going to jail."
The suspect also spoke to negotiators at the scene and Sheriff Mike Chitwood during the six-hour standoff but still refused to surrender peacefully, per Gant, although the man did note specifically that he had no intention of hurting law enforcement.
"The suspect told deputies the man he shot was an adult male friend/relative, and that he shot the man after the man pointed the gun at him and also threatened him with a knife while deputies were outside the apartment building," Gant noted.
VCSO SWAT personnel entered the suspect's apartment around 1 a.m., finding the suspect's relative dead in a bedroom and the suspect in the master bedroom closet with a gunshot wound to his chest. Gant says it looks like the man shot himself while SWAT was clearing the apartment with a bomb robot.
"A deputy performed life-saving measures on the suspect at the scene until a Deltona Fire Rescue paramedic relieved him, and then he was transported to Central Florida Regional Hospital in Sanford in critical condition," Gant noted. "He was later pronounced dead at the hospital. There were no injuries to any deputies or other first responders."
Identities will be released once VCSO makes contact with next of kin, according to Gant.
Earlier reporting below.
Deltona, FL - One man is dead and another is getting treatment at a nearby hospital as deputies end a standoff situation at a Deltona apartment complex.
The Volusia County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene at Belltower Apartments in Deltona last night (November 29th), forcing the evacuation of the building on Belltower Avenue and traffic closures throughout the area. That's just east of Interstate 4 and north of Dirksen Drive/DeBary Avenue.
According to the agency's Twitter feed, VCSO deputies completely defused the situation around 3:45 a.m.
We made entry at Belltower Apartments in Deltona where an armed subject was barricaded. He was found in a closet - taken to hospital w/ self-inflicted GSW - in critical condition. Confirmed: A second adult male was found deceased in the apt. News media: Full release later today
The situation began when the man who shot himself told authorities he shot and killed another man in the apartment.
The identities of both men have not been released.
VCSO is expected to release more details soon. This article will be updated when that happens.
UPDATE (11-30-18): VCSO identifies the suspect as 68-year-old Noel Flores. The other man was 44-year-old Arthur Johnson, a nephew of Flores' dead wife. Investigators think Flores shot him before he shot himself.
Body camera footage showing part of the incident has also been released by VCSO.
