Florida woman accused of killing dying husband asked repeatedly to 'drop the gun'
By: New body camera video shows the moment Florida police officers tried to get a woman to surrender after she confined herself inside a Daytona Beach hospital room after reportedly shooting and killing her terminally ill husband on Saturday morning.
With guns drawn, Daytona Beach police officers who were standing outside the room could be heard repeatedly yelling for the suspect, later identified as 76-year-old Ellen Gilland, to "drop the gun."
"We don't want to hurt you. Tell me what's going on. Talk to me," an officer said. The edited footage then showed the woman being rolled out of the hospital in a wheelchair.
Police said the New Smyrna Beach couple had planned the shooting about three weeks ago if the victim's health continued to take a turn for the worse.
According to a newly released arrest affidavit, police said several witnesses at the AdventHealth hospital on Memorial Medical Parkway told law enforcement they heard at least one gunshot coming from the victim's hospital room on the 11th floor.
When witnesses went to the room, they saw the suspect's husband – 77-year-old Jerry Gilland – laying unresponsive in the bed. The suspect told the witnesses she had a gun and demanded they leave the room, the report said. Both witnesses left the room and began clearing the immediate area of hospital staff.
Law enforcement arrived at the hospital and spent hours negotiating with Gilland, who stood behind her husband's bed with a gun pointed toward the room's entrance.
After about four hours, SWAT team members deployed a flashbang distraction device into the room, and as the device detonated, SWAT attempted to use the taser on her, but it was unsuccessful in subduing her, the report stated.
As the taser was fired at the suspect, she fired one round from the gun, which struck the ceiling, the affidavit stated.
She then dropped the gun and was detained and taken into custody. No one else was hurt in the incident.
Gilland faced a judge Sunday morning, where the judge read her the charges she faces, which include first-degree murder.
She's being held in the Volusia County jail without bond.