Central Fla. deputy shoots at suicidal woman

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – An Orange County Sheriff's deputy is on administrative duty after he shot his gun at an armed suicidal woman, according to investigators.

Authorities said around 12:53 p.m. Saturday they went up to a woman they had been told was suicidal. She was waving a gun and threatening to hurt herself in an convenience store parking lot near Hiawassee Road and Colonial Drive.

The deputy saw the woman had a gun pointed his way, and according to officials, he fired a shot at her fearing for his life. After the bullet hit the woman near her shoulder she ran into a nearby pub and would not come out.

After almost an hour deputies coaxed the injured woman in her 50s to come out and drop the gun. Emergency workers put her on a stretcher and took her to the hospital, where she is expected to survive.

Deputies said they evacuated several businesses before the woman was taken into custody and sent to the hospital.

A OCSO spokesman said the woman could have been upset over a pet she had dropped off at the veterinarian to be put down. No one else was hurt.