DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - AdventHealth’s Daytona Beach location turned violent on Saturday when an elderly woman is said to have shot and killed her ailing husband. Law enforcement has stated the couple apparently planned the killing, as a method of euthanasia if the husband’s health reached a certain point. It may have been intended as a murder-suicide.
The husband was the sole patient in his eleventh floor hospital room according to authorities, and the entire floor was evacuated as the incident played out.
The shooting happened sometime in the morning, and the woman was taken into custody around 3:00 pm. The woman was identified as Ellen Gilland, 77, and her husband was Jerry Gilland, 76.
"Apparently because he was terminally ill, they had a conversation about it and they actually planned this approximately three weeks ago that if he continued to take a turn for the worst that he wanted her to end this," said Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young. "Obviously, we're unsure how she brought that gun into the hospital, but this was planned."
There was a hostage negotiation with Gilland that lasted hours, but police say no hospital employees or other patients were threatened. Gilland never put the gun down until being apprehended, and police captured her using a flash bang technique.
At the moment charges against Gilland are unclear, but Chief Young says she may face first-degree murder.
