Florida Woman Arrested for Fatally Shooting Terminally Ill Husband at Hospital

An elderly Florida woman is in police custody after allegedly shooting her terminally ill husband inside of a hospital, NBC News reports.

Ellen Gilland, 76, of New Smyrna Beach has been charged with one count of premeditated first-degree murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after she shot and killed her husband inside the AdventHealth Hospital in Daytona Beach. 

Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari E. Young said in a news conference that Gilland’s husband, 77, asked Ellen to “end it” should his condition get worse. 

“Initially, I think the plan was a murder-suicide so she killed him and then she was going to turn the gun on herself but decided she couldn’t go through with it,” Young told reporters.

After shooting her husband around 11:30 a.m. local time, Gilland refused to turn herself over to authorities until 3:30 p.m. 

“This was somewhat of a logistical nightmare, which is why again I’m very, very proud of my team,” he added. “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 most important to get them out of the way.”

AdventHealth addressed the situation in a statement on Saturday.

“We are devastated by the tragedy that unfolded at the AdventHealth Daytona Beach campus today, and our prayers are with those impacted,” the nonprofit healthcare system said.