Male shooter in custody, St. Cloud Police say
The St. Cloud Police Department reports it is investigating a domestic dispute incident that involved shots fired at officers and led to the death of a woman Saturday night.
According to police, 911 calls began coming in at 6:41 p.m. Saturday from a home in the Hanover Lakes subdivision on Nottel Drive -- that's off Alligator Lake Road and Hickory Tree Road just south of Nolte Road -- regarding a domestic argument. When police arrived and approached the front entry of the house, they were met with gunfire from a male shooter.
Sunday morning, police identified that accused shooter as Jose Manual Otero Fontanez, 48, who has been booked into the Osceola County Jail on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated abuse of an elder.
Officers did not return any fire, a police official said. Once the man barricaded himself in the home, police deployed a drone to enter the home; the drone also came under gunfire once inside the house. After a crisis negotiator reached the suspect by phone, he was talked into surrendering, and was taken into custody. Upon entering the house, police located the body of the female victim in a bathroom.
Two others, a 24-year old and a 10-year old, said to be the children of those involved, were at the house at the time and escaped unharmed. St. Cloud Police Chief Doug Goerke said preliminary investigation shows the 911 calls came from one of the children after the father of the children shot the mother inside the residence.
“The crime that occurred here tonight is tragic and senseless,” Chief Douglas Goerke said, in a release. “Our hearts go out to the children who lost their parents here tonight. We will be working with them to get the resources they will need to cope with what happened here.”
As the investigation is active, no other details have been shared, such as the name of the deceased or the gender of the two others present, though officials said they expect to provide more later.
Check back at AroundOsceola.com for further details.
