A domestic shooting in St. Cloud, Florida, escalated into an armed standoff after a 48-year-old man allegedly shot his wife multiple times inside their home, remained barricaded with a firearm and opened fire as officers approached.

The August 24, 2024, incident began with one of the couple’s children calling 911 and reporting that their father had shot their mother.

The children managed to escape the home and reach safety at a neighbor’s residence.

Their mother remained inside.

Their father, identified in the footage as Jose Manuel, was still armed.

What followed was a tense police operation involving patrol officers, drones, K9 units and negotiators, all while officers tried to determine whether the wounded woman was still alive.

By the end of the incident, Manuel was in custody and facing allegations of first-degree premeditated murder and attempted murder of a law-enforcement officer.

A Child Calls 911

The first clear indication of what had happened came from the family itself.

During the 911 call, one of the children told dispatchers that their father was upstairs with a gun and that their mother had been shot.

The child said both siblings had already fled the house.

When asked where their mother was, the answer was blunt.

“He just shot her.”

According to the footage, the shooting took place inside the home on Natell Drive in St. Cloud. The woman, identified as Lizvet Figueroa, had allegedly been shot multiple times while the children were still inside.

Officers raced to the scene without knowing whether she was still alive.

They also knew the armed suspect was still inside.

Officers Are Met With Gunfire

Police immediately treated the house as an active threat.

Officers used parked vehicles for cover and established positions around the property.

They prepared a team with both lethal and less-lethal options in case Manuel came outside.

But when officers announced themselves and moved closer, gunfire came from the house.

“Shots fired. Shots fired,” an officer reported.

That forced police to pull back and rethink their approach.

With the suspect controlling the interior of the home and officers uncertain about Figueroa’s location, entering directly became extremely dangerous.

Police needed another way to see inside.

They turned to a drone.

The Suspect Shoots Down a Police Drone

The drone was sent into the house to locate the suspect and, if possible, find the wounded woman.

Officers soon spotted Manuel in a hallway.

He appeared to have a weapon equipped with a light.

Then he fired at the drone.

“He shot the drone,” officers reported.

The aircraft was disabled.

The moment demonstrated just how dangerous the standoff had become.

Manuel knew the layout of the house.

Police did not.

He had already fired toward officers.

Now he had also shot down their surveillance equipment.

Additional units, including a K9 team, were called to the scene.

But officers eventually decided that sending the dog inside would be too dangerous because the suspect had already demonstrated a willingness to shoot.

Children and Neighbors Rush to Safety

Meanwhile, police were still trying to secure the surrounding area.

At one point, nearby residents and the children were seen moving through the scene while officers urgently directed them behind vehicles.

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

Officers repeatedly told everyone to stay behind cover and assured them they would be protected.

Once the children were safely away from the house, investigators began questioning them.

Their statements would become critical.

One child told officers that the parents were the only people still inside.

Another described witnessing part of the shooting.

Daughter Says She Saw Her Father Firing

The older daughter gave investigators a disturbing account.

She said she heard her mother screaming and calling her name.

When she went upstairs, she saw her mother running and telling Manuel to stop.

At first, the daughter said, she thought the gun might be fake.

Then she saw blood.

She told police she saw her father continuing to shoot her mother even after he noticed that she was watching.

She estimated that he fired several times.

That testimony gave officers a clearer picture of what had happened inside.

But police still needed Manuel to surrender before they could safely enter and reach Figueroa.

Negotiators Make Contact

Using a phone number provided by the children, officers began trying to communicate with Manuel.

A language barrier complicated the negotiations because he reportedly did not speak English.

During the calls, Manuel claimed there was still a 10-year-old child inside the home.

Police already knew that was not true.

The children were with officers and had confirmed that only Manuel and Figueroa remained inside.

Investigators deliberately avoided immediately confronting him about his wife, fearing that doing so could destabilize the situation further.

Manuel told police he needed time to think and was not ready to come outside.

For officers, every delay was significant.

Figueroa was still somewhere inside the house, and no one knew whether she was alive.

A Neighbor Pleads for Police to Go In

The urgency became especially emotional when a neighbor close to Figueroa pleaded with police to get inside.

“She’s bleeding,” the neighbor told officers.

The longer they waited, she said, the smaller Figueroa’s chances of surviving.

Police assured her that medical personnel were staged and that officers were preparing to enter as soon as it was safe.

Then the situation changed.

Manuel came outside.

Officers immediately surrounded him, ordered him to face away and took him into custody.

Police Find Figueroa Upstairs

With Manuel restrained, officers rushed into the house and conducted a full sweep.

They eventually reached an upstairs bathroom.

There they found Figueroa.

She had suffered multiple gunshot wounds.

By the time officers reached her, she was unconscious and not breathing.

The focus of the investigation now shifted from rescue to determining motive.

The daughter would provide investigators with the most detailed explanation.

Daughter Describes a Controlling Relationship

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

She said her father frequently accused her mother of cheating, particularly in connection with work travel.

According to her account, Figueroa had been preparing for a trip to California and had discussed the couple’s latest argument with her daughter.

The daughter described her father as controlling and said he often started conflicts before major events.

She also relayed a disturbing statement her mother had reportedly told her Manuel made the previous day: that the only reason he had not killed her was because of their 10-year-old son.

The transcript notes that Manuel later gave officers an explanation consistent with the jealousy described by his daughter.

Investigators concluded that his belief that his wife was cheating had become a central part of the case.

Murder and Attempted Murder Charges

Following the investigation, Manuel was charged with first-degree premeditated murder in connection with Figueroa’s death.

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

The transcript provided does not include a final court disposition, conviction or sentence, so the later outcome of those charges is not established in the source.

What is clear is how rapidly a domestic dispute escalated into a crisis involving an entire family and dozens of officers.

Two children fled their home.

A mother was left critically wounded inside.

Police were fired upon.

A drone was shot down.

And after hours of uncertainty, the armed suspect finally stepped outside and surrendered.

The standoff ended.

For the family, however, the consequences had already become irreversible.