Wife Shoots Terminally Ill Husband At FL Hospital, Prompting Standoff: Police

DAYTONA BEACH, FL — A woman fatally shot her terminally ill husband at a Daytona Beach hospital Saturday in an apparent murder-suicide pact, prompting a standoff with police, according to authorities and reports.

Police said the 76-year-old woman was taken into custody when after she surrendered around 3 p.m. She faces a charge of first-degree murder, NBC News reported.

Authorities were initially called to AdventHealth Daytona Beach, located at 301 Medical Memorial Parkway, for a report of a person shot. When police arrived, they discovered the woman had confined herself to her husband's 11th-floor room following the shooting.

The woman told police that due to her husband's health issues, they decided three weeks ago that if he "continued to take a turn for the worse that he wanted her to end this," police said at a news conference, according to NBC News.

"Initially, I think the plan was a murder-suicide so she killed him and then she was going to turn the gun on herself but decided she couldn’t go through with it," Daytona police chief Jakari Young told reporters.

During the standoff, police evacuated staff and patients surrounding the room.

Authorities previously said the woman was not a threat to others.