DELTONA -- A 19-year-old man at the center of an armed confrontation in Deltona Saturday night that kept Volusia County Sheriff's deputies at bay for several hours has been taken into custody, an agency spokesman said.
Michael Gilmore was captured early Sunday morning, about two hours after he returned to the scene of
the crime -- a house on Lullwater Street where he lives with his girlfriend. Gilmore is facing charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, battery,
violation of an injunction for protection and violation of pre-trial release conditions.
Deputies also ended up arresting Gilmore's 21-year-old girlfriend, Jalita Ryan, after she yelled at officers, incited neighbors and refused to comply with commands. She was charged with disorderly conduct.
"The confrontation started shortly after 7 p.m. Saturday night. Gilmore's estranged wife, 21-year-old Brandi Gilmore, said Ryan had invited her to the house to pick up some clothes for her baby," Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said. "Gilmore, who has an injunction for protection against her husband, was told that he wouldn't be at the house. Gilmore accepted the invitation and Ryan picked her up
along with several friends and drove them to the house on Lullwater Street. But when they got inside the house, Michael Gilmore was there and became enraged. According to witnesses, he argued with Ryan for letting the others in the house, then pulled out a gun and started yelling at everyone and making threats."
One of the occupants said he was forced out of the house at gunpoint, Davidson said, adding, moments later the others fled the house, leaving Michael Gilmore alone inside the residence.
Since no one had seen him leave, deputies assumed Gilmore was still inside and armed. So they took cover, surrounded the house and tried to contact Gilmore. When those efforts failed, the Sheriff's Office
deployed crisis negotiators and the SWAT Team in an effort to resolve the situation, Davidson said.
Two surrounding homes were evacuated as a precaution and other residents in the neighborhood were sent telephone messages warning them to stay indoors. The Sheriff's Office deployed a bomb robot into
the house to look for Gilmore. When he wasn't spotted, the SWAT Team
entered the house and confirmed he wasn't there.
But it wasn't long before Gilmore showed up again, Davidson said. At about 2:45 a.m., a neighbor called
the Sheriff's Office to report that Gilmore had returned to the house and then drove off. Deputies contacted the Seminole County Sheriff's Office and asked them to check an address in Sanford where Gilmore also stays.
Seminole deputies found Gilmore there and captured him at about 5 a.m. after he scrambled out of a window and tried to run away, Davidson said.
Gilmore was booked into the John E. Polk Correctional Facility in Sanford.