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    • Joseph DiFusco killed in rare Volusia County Sheriff’s sniper shooting
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    Joseph DiFusco killed in rare Volusia County Sheriff’s sniper shooting

    Harry Posted on

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    Although extremely rare, a suspect was shot dead by a gunman in Ormond-by-the-Sea on Thursday. Volusia Sheriff’s Office SWAT Team sniper It’s not unprecedented.

    In the early hours of Thanksgiving morning, a heavily armed man began firing multiple shots in Volusia County Airbnb apartment in Ormond-by-the-Seafinally a shot estimated 200 bullets at neighboring units, negotiators and Volusia Sheriff’s Office vehicles.

    After about six hoursJoseph DiFusco, 56, of Connecticut, was killed by a SWAT team.

    “There was no negotiation with this man,” Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood said. “Every time we tried to negotiate with him, he was shooting at us.”

    No one else was injured VCSO said.

    An investigation into past incidents involving similar use of deadly force by deputies turned up at least one previous fatal shooting that resulted in the death of Oak Hill resident Helen Lucille McConnell in 1991.

    McConnell, a 61-year-old rancher, was struck down by a single shot from a Volusia County Sheriff’s sniper on July 27, 1991. According to the Orlando Sentinel.

    A seven-man SWAT team went to the farmhouse to stop him from committing suicide after a friend told deputies he was distraught and didn’t show up for dinner, the newspaper reported.

    A tape recording of his conversation with the 911 dispatcher showed McConnell was drunk and confused and did not realize the people outside his home were lawmakers, according to the Sentinel.

    McConnell fired several times and was hit when the bullets began landing near the SWAT team, according to the sheriff’s office.

    Neighbors of 1991 shooting victim question need for lethal force

    Some residents, friends and relatives claimed the sheriff’s office overreacted and forced McConnell, whose blood alcohol level was 0.28, into the shooting, the newspaper reported.

    Ultimately, the SWAT team’s shooting to death did not violate the 61-year-old woman’s civil rights, according to a ruling by the U.S. Department of Justice.

    A grand jury, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the medical examiner’s office and the sheriff’s internal affairs division also cleared the deputies of wrongdoing.

    The Department of Justice became involved in the case after one of the victim’s neighbors contacted various state and federal authorities.

    Later-Volusia County Sheriff Bob Vogel In a written statement, he said he was pleased that seven investigations by law enforcement into the Oak Hill shooting had found no evidence of wrongdoing and argued it was justified and in self-defense.

    Following the murder, three key members of the SWAT team, sniper George Tracy Hernlen and Lts. Robert Bosco and Buddy Klepper resigned from the unit, citing negative media attention, the newspaper reported.

    McConnell’s relatives also filed a lawsuit against the lawmakers, but later withdrew the case, saying they had little chance of winning and did not have enough money to wage a legal fight.

    Harry
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