A terminally ill 77-year-old man named Jerry Gilland made a pact with his wife that if his health does not improve, he wanted his 76-year-old wife, Ellen Gilland, to kill him, The New York Times reported. They made this pact three weeks ago. Unfortunately, his health did not improve and on Saturday, Ellen brought a gun inside the Advent Health Hospital in Daytona Beach, Fla and went inside her husband's room on the 11th floor and shot him in the head, the police said.
Chief Jakari E. Young of the Daytona Beach Police Department said, "She had planned to fatally shoot herself, too, but in the end, she couldn't go through with it."
In a news conference, Mr Young said, "It's a tragic circumstance because it just shows that none of us is immune from the trials and tribulations of life."
The accused refused to drop her gun when the police arrived and stayed in the room.
The police said that officers had to use the flash-bang device to distract Ms Gilland.
The police said, "Even after the initial shooting, she never tried to get up and leave, so everything was confined to the room. At no time were any of the hospital staff threatened, or any other patients."
The police evacuated other patients on the floor. The police did not share information on Mr Gilland's illness or how long he had been hospitalized.
The New York Times report says that Ms Gilland could face a first-degree murder charge. The State Attorney's Office in the 7th Judicial Circuit did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment on Saturday.
Ms Gilland was taken to the Volusia County Jail on Saturday afternoon.
"She's very sad," Chief Young said. "This is obviously a - it's a tough situation."
