Gunman killed after firing 200 shots into homes on Thanksgiving, Florida cops say

Neighbors in one Florida condominium community spent Thanksgiving dodging bullets after a tourist began indiscriminately firing dozens of rounds into the walls, according to investigators.

More than 200 rounds were fired before the suspect, Joseph DiFusco, was killed by a sheriff’s office sniper, the Volusia County Sheriff reported in a news release.

A motive has not been released.

The shooting began around 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 28, at Kingston Shores Condominiums in the coastal Ormond-By-The-Sea community, the sheriff’s office said. Ormond-By-The-Sea is about a 70-mile drive northeast from Orlando.

“Deputies are on scene in response to a man shooting multiple rounds outside his condo and at neighboring units. He has also fired at a VSO vehicle from inside his condo,” the sheriff’s office said in the first of a series of community alerts.

“Neighbors have been notified and evacuated and traffic is being rerouted.”

The gunfire went on for “several hours” before a sniper killed DiFusco, officials said.

No other injuries were reported among deputies or neighbors, but “several” homes were damaged by gunshots, the sheriff’s office said. It’s estimated in excess of 200 rounds were fired “at neighboring residences and VSO units,” the sheriff’s office said.

Two Thompson sub-machine guns, a .45 caliber handgun and a 12-gauge shotgun were found in his condominium, the sheriff’s office said.

DiFusco, 56, was staying at an Airbnb while visiting from Connecticut and brought the weapons and ammunition with him, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reported. He was alone when the shooting began, because his family became alarmed at his behavior and “relocated to the Palm Coast area,” WKMG reports.

Investigators say DiFusco was “a military veteran, a convicted felon out of his home state of Connecticut, and the subject of a pending ex parte order in Volusia County due to a series of extreme mental health episodes that included delusions, hallucinations, manic behavior, and threats to his wife’s and daughter’s lives.”

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will investigate the incident, which is standard for deputy-involved shootings, officials said.

This story was originally published November 29, 2024 at 6:23 AM with the headline "Gunman killed after firing 200 shots into homes on Thanksgiving, Florida cops say."