ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Nearly 24 hours after a standoff came to an end inside an Orange County apartment there's still no sign of a suspect who, deputies believe, could have been armed.
In the end, all that deputies found was an empty apartment and the suspect was on the run.
Deputies first responded to the apartment along Ivey Lane around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.
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All afternoon Wednesday and into the evening, deputies believed Deangelo McCoy, 19, was inside the apartment with its windows now boarded.
McCoy’s mother said she told deputies he was not inside, but they still went in anyway.
McCoy's mother didn't want to be filmed, but she showed WFTV the aftermath of the SWAT team that came after a six-hour standoff.
The Orange County Sheriff's Office said they had investigative leads that an armed and dangerous suspect was inside the apartment and they were acting on a signed search warrant.
The incident started with a woman reporting an armed robbery and saying McCoy shot at her and tried to kill her.
That call came in just after 1:30 p.m. and the standoff lasted until after 7 p.m.
Deputies took no chances, believing that the 19-year-old was inside his mother's apartment.
WFTV was on the scene Wednesday night after deputies stormed through the second story windows and searched the apartment.
The Sheriff's Office said it is not standard procedure to enter through front doors because of the dangers of officers being shot.
Deputies said they are still searching for McCoy who they consider to be armed and dangerous.
Channel 9 uncovered records that detail McCoy's criminal history, dating back to when the suspect was 15-years-old.
In 2014, a teacher at Jones High School told police he saw bullets fall from McCoy's pockets.
Investigators later found a gun inside a backpack that belonged to the suspect.
He was arrested and placed inside a juvenile detention facility for 21 days for the incident.
In a 2014 interview, McCoy's mother said that she thought the incident would scare him straight.McCoy was arrested three times in 2018 for incidents including: having a gun underneath his seat during a traffic stop, robbing a man at gunpoint and having marijuana on his person during a traffic stop.
Prosecutors said there was not enough evidence to move forward in either incident involving a gun. McCoy pleaded no contest to the marijuana charge.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Orange County Sheriff’s Office via 911 or Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS.
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