A domestic shooting in St. Cloud, Florida, erupted into a dangerous armed standoff after a father allegedly shot his wife multiple times inside their home, forced his children to flee to a neighbor and then opened fire on responding officers.

The incident unfolded on August 24, 2024, at a home on Natell Drive, where police were first alerted by a panicked 911 call from one of the couple’s children.

The caller told dispatchers that their father, identified in the footage as 48-year-old Jose Manuel, was upstairs with a gun and had just shot their mother.

“My dad is upstairs with the gun,” the child said.

Asked where the mother was, the response was chilling.

“He just shot her.”

By the time officers arrived, the two children had already escaped the house and taken shelter with neighbors. Their mother, Lizvet Figueroa, remained inside.

Her condition was unknown.

And Manuel was still armed.

Officers Approach — and Gunfire Erupts

Police immediately treated the residence as an active threat.

Officers positioned themselves behind vehicles, secured the front and rear of the home and began planning how to approach without exposing civilians or themselves to gunfire.

The danger became clear within moments.

As officers called out and announced themselves, shots were fired from inside the house.

“Shots fired,” officers shouted over the radio.

The initial team quickly pulled back and reassessed.

Police then began discussing a tactical approach that included lethal cover, less-lethal options and officers assigned to physically take Manuel into custody if he surrendered.

But every effort to get closer carried extraordinary risk.

Investigators still did not know whether Figueroa was alive, where exactly she was located or how many weapons Manuel had inside.

A Drone Is Sent Inside — and Shot Down

Because entering the house was too dangerous, officers turned to technology.

A drone was sent into the residence in an attempt to locate Manuel and determine the condition of the victim.

The plan failed almost immediately.

Officers watching the feed spotted Manuel down a hallway with what appeared to be a rifle or firearm equipped with a light.

Then he shot the drone.

“He shot the drone,” officers reported.

The failed reconnaissance attempt confirmed that Manuel was actively monitoring police movements inside the house and was willing to fire at anything approaching him.

Additional resources, including a K9 unit, were called in.

But after more shots were fired from the residence, the K9 handler decided sending the dog inside would be too dangerous.

Manuel had the advantage of knowing the layout of the house, while officers would have been moving blind.

Children Flee as Officers Try to Secure the Neighborhood

At one point, neighbors and the children were seen running away from the area while officers tried to guide them behind cover.

“I don’t want to die,” one person cried as officers rushed them behind patrol vehicles.

Police repeatedly ordered civilians to stay low and move behind engine blocks because Manuel was believed to have a firearm capable of reaching beyond the immediate property.

Once the children were safe, investigators began questioning them to determine what had happened before the shooting and how many people remained inside.

They confirmed that only their parents were still in the house.

The children also told officers their father had at least one handgun and no known military background.

Daughter Says She Saw Her Father Shooting Her Mother

The most disturbing account came from the couple’s adult daughter.

She told investigators that she heard her mother screaming and calling her name.

When she ran upstairs, she said she saw her father continuing to shoot Figueroa.

At first, she thought the weapon might be fake.

Then she saw blood.

“I saw him still shooting at her even though he saw me screaming at him,” she told police.

She estimated that her mother had been shot multiple times.

That statement gave investigators a clearer picture of what had happened inside.

Police now believed they were dealing with an armed domestic-shooting suspect who had fired at both his wife and responding officers.

The next priority was getting him out alive so officers could reach Figueroa.

Negotiations Begin

Using a phone number provided by the children, officers established contact with Manuel.

The situation was complicated by a language barrier, so police used assistance to communicate with him.

Manuel told officers he needed time to think and initially refused to come out.

At one point, he claimed that a 10-year-old child was still inside the residence.

Police already knew that was not true.

Both children were safely outside with officers.

Negotiators deliberately avoided immediately confronting him about his wife, fearing that doing so could trigger another violent reaction.

Instead, they kept him talking.

He said he wanted to be left alone and did not need food or water.

Meanwhile, pressure outside the house was increasing.

A neighbor close to Figueroa repeatedly pleaded with officers to get medical personnel inside.

“She’s bleeding,” the woman said.

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

Police told her that EMS was staged nearby but could not safely enter while Manuel remained armed.

Manuel Finally Walks Out

After the prolonged standoff, Manuel eventually stepped outside.

Officers immediately gave commands.

“Hands up.”

“Face away from me.”

“Do not move.”

Within seconds, officers moved in, restrained him and took him into custody.

Police then rushed into the house.

Their search led them upstairs to a bathroom.

There, they found Figueroa suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.

She was unconscious and not breathing when officers reached her.

The focus of the case now shifted from rescue to homicide investigation.

Daughter Describes Jealousy and Control

Later, Manuel’s adult daughter told police about the conflict she believed had led to the shooting.

She said her parents had been arguing and that her father frequently accused Figueroa of cheating, particularly with a former boss.

According to the daughter, her mother had been preparing for a work trip to California, and tensions had escalated in the days before the shooting.

She described her father as controlling and said he had a pattern of starting arguments before major events.

The daughter also told police that Figueroa had said Manuel made a disturbing threat the day before the shooting — allegedly saying the only reason he had not killed her was because of their young son.

The transcript states that Manuel later gave investigators an account consistent with the daughter’s description of jealousy and accusations of infidelity.

Murder and Attempted-Murder Charges Follow

The case ended with two extraordinarily serious charges.

Manuel was charged with first-degree premeditated murder in the death of his wife.

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

What began with a child’s desperate 911 call became a full tactical operation involving repeated gunfire, a destroyed police drone, K9 officers, evacuations and negotiations.

The most haunting part of the case, however, came from inside the home.

Two children escaped.

Their mother did not.

And according to their daughter, one of the last things she witnessed before running for help was her father continuing to fire while she screamed at him to stop.