DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — 10:30 a.m. Update:
Ellen Gilland appeared in front of a Volusia County judge on Sunday and was ordered to be held without bond.
Original Story:
A 77-year-old man is dead after his wife shot him at a Daytona Beach hospital, police said.
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Investigators said it happened around 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Advent Health off of Williamson Boulevard.
The situation disrupted hospital operations for nearly four hours as police worked to get the woman to surrender.
Daytona Beach police said this shooting was planned, and the woman, identified as Ellen Gilland, 76, told them her terminally ill husband Jerry Gilland asked her to kill him.
“Because he was terminally ill, they had a conversation about it and they actually planned this approximately three weeks ago,” said Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young.
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Investigators said the plan included her taking her own life, but police said she didn’t follow through.
Officers said she then barricaded herself in his hospital room. Police had the hospital surrounded for several hours. It is unclear how Gilland was able to get inside the hospital with a gun.
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Young said things were even more hectic inside, and the incident happened on the 11th floor, where terminally ill patients stay.
“Pretty much all of the patients on that floor are on ventilators, so they didn’t have room to evacuate that entire floor,” he said.
Young said Gilland would not put down the gun, so SWAT negotiators were called in to help.
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Around 3 p.m., he said they finally got her to drop the gun and took her into custody.
Channel 9 reached out to Advent Health about its security and if there are metal detectors but is waiting to hear back.
The chief said Gilland was arrested on a murder charge, but it will be up to the state attorney to decide whether she will be formally charged.
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