ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Two deputies with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office have been placed on leave following a deadly shooting on Thursday. It happened at an apartment complex on PGA Boulevard, near South John Young Parkway. “It’s concerning. This is not the greatest of the areas, and we already have problems getting in contact with any property management about anything,” said Cheyanne Miller, who spoke exclusively with Channel 9.
Miller lives next door to where the shooting happened, and she was not allowed to go back home when she arrived from work. “They [deputies] had roped off the street and the entrance, basically,” she said. After more than an hour, Miller was finally able to go inside.
It all happened on Wednesday around 11 p.m. on Titelist Court. The street is inside the Club at Millenia Apartment Complex. “As I walked up, all the cops were back there. People were still going in and out,” Miller said.
The home where the shooting happened is on the second floor of the building, and according to the sheriff’s office, it all started with a call for help. “We received a 911 call from someone who claimed to have been battered and strangled. When deputies were outside the residence, they were screaming and breached the door,” said Mark Canty, Orange County’s Undersheriff.
After entering the home, deputies said they found a woman holding a knife – she then allegedly charged at them. “The subject appeared and began attacking the deputies with a knife. Two deputies discharged their firearms, striking the person,” Canty said.
The woman was identified as 19-year-old Vanessa Eugene. She was taken to the hospital, where she died. Investigators spent almost ten hours at the location overnight, and, for now, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is taking over the investigation. “Once this process is complete, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office will conduct its internal investigation,” Canty said.
Channel 9 has reached out to the apartment complex for comment but has not heard back.
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