DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A woman who fatally shot her terminally ill husband inside a Florida hospital was taken into custody over the weekend after SWAT team members used a nonlethal explosive device to distract her and then tried to use a stun gun on her, authorities said Monday.
However, the Taser gun failed to subdue 76-year-old Ellen Gilland, and she fired a shot into the ceiling of her husband's room inside AdventHealth Hospital before dropping the handgun and being taken into custody after a four-hour standoff, according to a police report from the Daytona Beach Police Department.
According to police, Gilland told officers that her 77-year-old husband, Jerry Gilland, had been ill for some time and they had planned the shooting together.
“The goal was for him to do it, but he did not have the strength, so she had to carry it out for him,” Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young said.
No one else was injured in the shooting, according to a news release. Authorities said they had to evacuate all staff and patients from around the area, which was challenging since that particular floor is dedicated to terminally ill patients.
“This was somewhat of a logistical nightmare which is why I’m very proud of my team, because that 11th floor is made up of terminally ill patients, so pretty much all the patients on that floor are on ventilators so they didn’t have the room to evacuate that entire floor, so they evacuated the rooms where it was the most important to get them out of the way,” Young said.
Ellen Gilland now faces charges of premeditated first-degree murder and two counts of aggressive assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, stemming from when she pointed her gun at staff members who had entered the hospital room after hearing a gunshot, according to the police report.
She remained in jail on no bond on Monday, and her court-appointed public defender didn't respond to an email inquiry.
10 Tampa Bay's BriShon Mitchell contributed to this report.