DELTONA, Fla. — A man and his nephew were found dead Friday inside a Deltona apartment after a more than six-hour standoff, officials said.
Noel Flores, 60, shot his nephew, Arthur Johnson, 44, and then himself, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office said.
Arriving deputies said they heard gunshots from Flores’ apartment and began evacuating the surrounding apartments.
Dispatcher: "Who's dead?"
Deputies said Flores 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.
Flores: "My friend is dead in the other room."
Dispatcher: "Who killed him?"
Flores: I did because he pulled a gun on me."
Deputies said there is no evidence to support Flores' claim that his nephew pulled a gun on him.
The telecommunicator prayed with Flores and tried to get him to put down his weapon.
“I love you so much because you’re helping me out, but I’m just telling you the truth: I cannot do it. I cannot do it. I can’t,” Flores told her, according to deputies.
He said he had no intention of hurting any law enforcement officers and that he'd fatally shot another man in the apartment.
When deputies eventually entered the apartment, they said they found Johnson dead and Flores with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Johnson was Flores' nephew from his deceased wife's side.
The Red Cross assisted residents of Bell Tower apartments who were evacuated during the standoff. Deputies also closed off Bell Tower Road to traffic while they negotiated with the subject.
Deputies said they used tear gas before entering the apartment.
Sheriff Mike Chitwood said deputies originally were on their way to the apartment Thursday to arrest Flores for threatening to blow up the DeLand courthouse on Nov. 6. On the way to his door, they said they heard gunshots.