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Police: Husband charged with killing Lake Nona wife, mother-in-law

LAKE NONA, Fla.,None — There are lots of questions about a double homicide, standoff and police shooting in Orlando.

Investigators said 43-year-old Elmer Banner shot and killed his wife and mother-in-law Sunday night, then was wounded in a standoff with police in a gated community in Lake Nona.

It's no secret Banner knew how to handle guns. He ran a quail hunting business from property in rural southeast Orange County. But people in his quiet Lake Nona neighborhood never expected he would be accused of turning a gun on his own family.

"We heard five shots, like real loud bangs," neighbor Typer Israel said.

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A 911 call from Banner's father-in-law triggered a massive police response. After officers arrived, they said Banner tried to flee through a back door of the home, and during a confrontation with police, an officer shot him.

Inside the home, police found the bodies of Banner's wife, 46-year-old Debra Banner, and her mother, Carol Minich.

The Banners had been married since 1995 and there are no court or criminal records to indicate there was trouble in the marriage. Orlando police had only been to their home once before for some kind of disturbance in 2011, but no report was taken.

They returned Sunday night to a homicide investigation -- a shooting police said happened in front of the couple's two sons, ages 13 and 14. Elmer Banner wrote about them on his company's website, where he proudly described his great memories of quail hunting with his two boys, friends and clients.

Banner has been charged with two counts of homicide, according to police.

Banner's sons and his father in law were not hurt. They're now staying with other family members.

Banner is in stable condition in the hospital. He has been charged with two counts of murder, but police still have not released any informaiton on what may have led him to shoot his wife and mother-in-law.