ORLANDO, Fla. – A woman who deputies fatally shot after she pointed a gun at them following a confrontation with a neighbor was a 42-year-old U.S. Army veteran, a newspaper reported.
Tracy Drowne pointed a gun at two deputies who came to her house while investigating a battery call on Tuesday afternoon, Orange County Sheriff John Mina said in a statement. The deputies fired, striking her.
A neighbor called the sheriff's office to report that Drowne hit him during an argument about his 16-year-old daughter, according to a sheriff's statement.
The deputies, Nathan Henley and Joseph O’Neil, rendered aid until paramedics arrived, Mina said. She later died at a hospital.
The sheriff's office hasn't said what caused the confrontation with the neighbor.
Drowne's ex-husband, Salvador Perez, told the Orlando Sentinel that Drowne had been struggling recently. Perez and the couple's two daughters live in California.
“There were issues that she was dealing with,” Perez told the newspaper. “She thought everyone was out to get her and she didn’t trust anybody.”
He said she served in the Army and had been deployed at least twice. He said she worked in finance and on contracts for the military, but had since retired.
In 2013, Drowne was honored with a U.S. Army Acquisition Award for contracting excellence, when she was listed as a sergeant first class, the Sentinel reported.
The two deputies are on administrative leave pending an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The sheriff’s office is also completing an internal review.