A domestic shooting inside a St. Cloud, Florida, home turned into a dangerous police standoff after a father allegedly shot his wife multiple times, barricaded himself inside the house and repeatedly fired toward officers attempting to reach her.

The confrontation unfolded on August 24, 2024, after the couple’s children escaped the residence and called 911.

Their message was terrifyingly direct.

Their father was still inside with a gun.

Their mother had been shot.

And no one knew whether she was still alive.

According to the footage, 48-year-old Jose Manuel remained barricaded inside the family home while St. Cloud police surrounded the property, deployed a drone, brought in a K9 unit and attempted to negotiate his surrender.

The standoff eventually ended with Manuel in custody.

Officers then entered the house and found his wife upstairs, unconscious and not breathing after suffering multiple gunshot wounds.

He was later charged with first-degree premeditated murder and attempted murder of a law-enforcement officer.

The Children Escape and Call 911

The first clear picture of what happened came from the family’s children.

During the emergency call, one child told dispatchers that their father was upstairs with a gun.

Then came the statement that immediately elevated the response.

“He just shot her.”

The caller said the shooting happened in or near the bathroom.

Both children had managed to leave the house and reach a neighbor, leaving their parents behind inside.

Police rushed to the address knowing they were potentially entering an active-shooter situation.

They did not know whether the mother could still be rescued.

They also did not know whether Manuel intended to surrender.

Within minutes, officers got their answer.

Gunfire Comes Through the Front Door

The first officers positioned themselves around the home and attempted to establish a safe perimeter.

They warned neighbors to remain inside and began assigning officers to lethal, less-lethal and arrest roles in case Manuel emerged.

Then police announced themselves.

“St. Cloud Police Department, make yourself known.”

Gunfire followed.

“Shots fired. Shots fired,” officers shouted as they pulled back from the house.

The danger was now unmistakable.

Manuel was not merely refusing to come outside.

Someone inside the house was actively firing as officers approached.

That made an immediate entry extraordinarily risky, even though a badly injured woman might still be somewhere inside.

Police needed another way to see into the home.

A Drone Goes Inside — and Is Shot

Officers deployed a drone in an attempt to locate Manuel and find the wounded woman without sending deputies blindly into the residence.

The technology briefly gave them a view down a hallway.

Then the suspect appeared.

Officers reported seeing him with what looked like a firearm equipped with a light.

Moments later, Manuel allegedly shot the drone.

The loss of the drone forced police to reconsider their approach yet again.

Additional units were called.

A K9 team arrived.

But the K9 handler ultimately determined that sending a dog into the home was too dangerous because Manuel had already demonstrated a willingness to fire toward police and their equipment.

Meanwhile, the family’s children and nearby residents were moved behind vehicles and farther away from the potential line of fire.

At one point, one frightened person can be heard saying, “I don’t want to die.”

Officers repeatedly reassured everyone while moving them to cover.

The Daughter Describes Seeing Her Mother Shot

Once the children were safe, investigators began asking them what had happened inside.

Their account transformed the situation from an uncertain domestic shooting into something even more disturbing.

The older daughter said she heard her mother screaming and calling her name.

When she went upstairs, she said she saw her father still firing at her mother.

She initially thought the weapon might be fake — until she saw blood.

According to her statement, her mother was running and telling Manuel to stop while he continued shooting.

The daughter estimated that her mother had been shot multiple times.

Officers also asked about the weapons Manuel owned and learned from the children that he was believed to have at least one handgun.

The children confirmed that no one else should be inside the home besides their parents.

That information became critical when negotiations began.

Police Try to Talk Him Out

Officers obtained Manuel’s phone number from his children and began trying to speak with him.

Communication was made more difficult by a language barrier, but negotiators continued.

At one point, Manuel claimed that a 10-year-old child remained inside the house.

Police already knew that was not true because both children were with officers outside.

They chose not to immediately confront him about his wounded wife, fearing that raising the subject could destabilize the negotiation.

Instead, police kept him talking and encouraged him to surrender.

Manuel repeatedly said he needed time and was not ready to come outside.

Every additional minute created another dilemma.

Police had an armed barricaded suspect who had fired at them.

But they also had a potentially dying woman inside.

A neighbor and close friend of the victim pleaded with officers to send an ambulance.

“She’s bleeding,” she said.

“The longer it takes, the less the chance she has.”

Police explained that medical crews were staged nearby but could not safely enter until the threat was controlled.

Manuel Finally Walks Out

Then, after the prolonged standoff, Manuel emerged.

Officers immediately shouted commands.

“Hands up.”

“Face away from me.”

“Do not move.”

Within seconds, he was taken into custody.

With the armed threat finally removed, officers rushed into the residence.

They searched the house until reaching the upstairs bathroom.

There they found Manuel’s wife suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.

She was unconscious and not breathing when police reached her.

Investigators now had to determine why the shooting happened.

The oldest daughter offered one possible explanation.

Daughter Says Jealousy Had Fueled Earlier Arguments

The 24-year-old daughter told investigators that her parents had been arguing before the shooting.

Her mother was preparing to travel to California for work, she said, and Manuel had repeatedly accused her of having an affair with a former boss.

The daughter described her father as controlling and said arguments often occurred before major events.

She told police that her mother had said Manuel made a chilling statement the previous day: that the only reason he had not killed her was because of their younger son.

The daughter did not personally witness that alleged threat and made clear that her mother had told her about it afterward.

She said she later heard her mother scream, went upstairs and encountered the shooting already underway.

According to the footage’s closing narration, investigators later said Manuel’s own account was consistent with jealousy being a major source of the conflict.

Murder and Attempted-Murder Charges

Authorities ultimately charged Manuel with first-degree premeditated murder in connection with his wife’s death.

He was also charged with attempted murder of a law-enforcement officer for allegedly firing at police during the standoff.

The transcript does not provide a later trial result or final sentence.

What it does document is a domestic dispute that escalated within minutes into a deadly family tragedy and an armed confrontation with police.

Two children escaped their own home and called for help.

Officers approaching the residence were met with gunfire.

A drone was shot inside the house.

Police were forced to balance the urgent need to reach a wounded woman against the risk of sending officers into an armed ambush.

By the time Manuel surrendered, the immediate threat had ended.

For his family, however, the consequences of what happened inside the house had only begun.