Orange County, FL: Man Dead After Standoff With Officers

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- State agents from the FDLE are investigating after a Winter Garden police officer shot and killed a 63-year-old man after a domestic dispute was reported.

Police said Harry and Maggie Gibbs got into a dispute about something around 11:00pm on Monday. Harry Gibbs had been drinking. Investigators said the altercation got out of control, so his wife, Maggie Gibbs went to a neighbors home for help, and they called 911.
"She's not reporting that he was beating her, more holding her down and so forth during some type of dispute they were having," said Officer Keith Ralston of the Winter Garden Police Department.
It was the first time police said they had been called to the home in the three years the couple lived in the community.
Police said when they arrived, Harry Gibbs walked out of the home, with a shotgun and waved it around without firing, but they said they felt threatened and had no choice but to open fire.
“At some point he lowered that weapon to our officers and aimed it at them. One of our officers fired upon him. At that point, he retreated into the house. Then we waited for SWAT to arrive,” said Ralston.
When police showed up, they said Harry Gibbs first came out of his home empty handed, but rushed back inside, and came out with a 12-gauge shotgun. Investigators said he refused to put it down, and even pointed it at officers. Sgt. James Capelettii fired at least four shots, and one hit Harry Gibbs. He managed to make it back in his home, where he collapsed and died.
“He had it upward to the sky with it, at some point he aimed at our officers and that's when we fired upon him,” said Ralston.
Jeanne Pickett-Elwis was one of the first people to meet Harry and Maggie Gibbs, when they moved into the Hyde Park Mobile Community, two years ago. Neighbors called her, when 63-year-old Harry Gibbs was shot and killed by Winter Garden police.
“They really were a nice couple. Maggie worked at Joanne Fabrics. Harry loved to golf and play cards,” said Pickett-Elwis.
Neighbors told WFTV that Harry Gibbs suffered from metal illness. The FDLE is investigating, but they said, Capelettii would have had no way of knowing that before they decided to shoot.
Capalettii is on administrative duty with pay, and officials said that is pending the outcome of an investigation. He has been with the Winter Garden Police Department for eight years.