PINELLAS PARK, Fla. — An hours-long standoff between Pinellas Park Police and a barricaded man who they say shot his wife outside of her workplace Wednesday morning, ended around 3:30 p.m. that afternoon.
- Man shot wife outside her work place
- Man barricaded himself inside home
- Standoff between police and suspect
Officers initially responded at 7:39 a.m. to what was reported as a verbal domestic disturbance at Tampa Bay Imaging, located in the 7800 block of 66th Street North.
Investigators determined that David Whitman, 47, went to the office, where his wife Anna, 42, is an employee, forcefully dragged her out of the building into the parking lot, and shot her at least three times.
Anna Whitman was subsequently transported to Bayfront Medical Center, where she's reportedly in critical condition.
"There were several witnesses and coworkers at that business who saw this happen," said Pinellas Park Police Sgt. Mike Lynch.
Officers located Whitman, armed with a handgun, at the family's home. They received additional information that multiple long guns, including an AR 15-style rifle, might be present in the house.
The SWAT team was called out and a standoff ensued between officers and Whitman. The standoff went on until well into the afternoon.
Police negotiated with Whitman for over six hours. At around 2:23 p.m. officers tried to end the standoff using less than lethal force.
"Officers attempted to apprehend the suspect by utilizing less than lethal force," said Pinellas Park Police Captain Brian Unmisig. "Those attempts proved unsuccessful, and then deadly force ensued. Shots were fired by officers and the suspect died as a result of injuries."
Police said the fatal shots were fired by two members of the SWAT team. No shot were fired at officers in the final engagement, though Whitman was armed with his handgun at the time.
Both officers have been placed on routine administrative leave pending a State Attorney's Office investigation into the shooting.
Family members react
Anna Whitman's mother, Fay Robertson, told us she's in shock over the incident.
She described the couple as high school sweethearts who had been married for years and had two children.
She went on to say the Whitmans had had problems recently, but she never expected David Whitman would do anything violent.
"My daughter wanted anything, she had it," Robertson explained. "She had everything. I didn’t know what to get the grandkids for Christmas and birthday because they had everything they wanted — that was the kind of person he was, and my daughter, when she wanted something she had it the next day."
"I don’t understand this at all," she went on. "I loved him and I still do and I don’t know what’s going on."
Robertson told us other family members, including Anna's siblings, are with her at the hospital, and that she's already undergone surgery.
One of those siblings we spoke to on the phone said Anna squeezed her hand following the surgery.