Following a protracted gunfight in an eastern coastal enclave that left the area covered with more than 200 rounds of ammunition, a Florida sheriff’s office sniper shot and killed a guy on Thanksgiving Day.
According to a press release from the Volusia Sheriff’s Office, Joseph DiFusco is no longer alive, although the cause of the shooting is still unknown.
The incident took place in the middle to late hours of Thursday morning and lasted for about two hours. Sunshine State sheriff’s deputies claim that there were ultimately no victims save the shooter.
Residents of Ormond-by-the-Sea, a small, census-designated place and seaside town about 70 miles northeast of Orlando, were cautioned by the sheriff’s office just before 6:30 a.m. to stay away from a section of Ocean Shore Boulevard close to the Kingston Shores condominiums.
“Deputies are on scene in response to a man shooting multiple rounds outside his condo and at neighboring units,” according to the first dispatch from the sheriff’s office. “He has also fired at a [sheriff’s office] vehicle from inside his condo. Neighbors have been notified and evacuated and traffic is being rerouted. If you’re out for a morning walk please avoid this area.”
In remarks cited by WESH, Volusia Sheriff Michael “Mike” Chitwood stated that deputies had arrived a few hours prior to deal with a man who claimed he was having suicidal thoughts and that he wanted assistance.
According to the sheriff, the man was “snowbirding,” which is the practice of altering one’s climate during cold weather seasons. He had previously received treatment at a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Connecticut before traveling to Florida.
The man was alone because “his family was so scared of him (that) they relocated” to a northern part of Florida, according to the sheriff, and the unit in question was an Airbnb.
According to reports, the deceased man had a lengthy history of mental health problems, which the local authorities were fully aware of at the time of the violent and deadly outburst.
“We were out there three times in the last four days,” Chitwood stated. “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.”
The onslaught, according to the sheriff, involved the use of many weapons. It started with sporadic firing into the surrounding area, which hit multiple neighboring units, and about two hours later, fire was directed toward arriving deputies. Eventually, the deputies fired back.
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“Probably he has fired close to 200-plus rounds,” Chitwood added. “Some of the apartments are littered, the facade is just shot up. There’s rounds in people’s homes. 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.”
Some of the first information law enforcement relied on at the site was contradicted by the weaponry found in the condo and the sheer volume of shots fired during the mayhem. A sniper’s bullet killed DiFusco.
