New details of a Deltona condo shooting reviewed on Wednesday, Oct. 1, show a man shot his 21-year-old neighbor several times, paused, and continued to shoot until the victim fell onto his doorstep, investigating Volusia County deputies said.
Deputies said Brian Whittaker, 49, shot Joseph Whitmer at his condo at the Edgewater Condominiums at 140 Orchid Woods Court at 12:59 a.m. on Sept. 29. Recovered from the scene were 11 bullet casings from a 9 mm pistol.
Whittaker was charged with premeditated first-degree murder. He was in the Volusia County Branch Jail on Wednesday, Oct.1, without bail.
Gunfire wakes up condo residents
The gunshots ringing out late at night, Sept. 29, woke up the residents of the condo unit where Whitmer lived. A woman can be heard hysterically crying and screaming in a 911 call recording.
“We were sleeping. They woke us up,” a man said to a 911 dispatcher when asked about the gunshots.
The caller said they did not hear an argument before the gunfire.
The dispatcher kept asking the 911 caller if he knew whether Whitmer was breathing and he responded that he didn’t know. In the background, a woman screaming could be heard saying she wanted to go outside.
“You are not going outside,” the caller tells her.
The caller reported Whitmer was shot in the torso and that they had no idea who shot him, according to the 911 call.
Deputies said they showed Whitmer’s sister a photo of Whittaker, but she said she did not know him.
Victim heard saying he was home safe, then shot 11 times
Deputies said they did not yet know the motive for the shooting but saw on surveillance video how it occurred.
A surveillance camera across from the apartment showed Whitmore arriving at the condo at 12:57 a.m. He was speaking out loud and saying he was home safe. Then at 12:58 a.m., the video captures Whitmer screaming as he tries to enter his home, according to a detailed report.
A man, later identified as Whittaker, is seen walking up the stairs toward Whitmer, trying to get into the home. Whittaker then pulls a gun out of his shoulder bag and fires multiple times at Whitmore, deputies said.
Whittaker turned and started walking away, but then stopped, turned, and fired several more times until Whitmer fell onto the doorstep, a report narrative shows.
Whittaker put the gun back in the black bag and walked away, deputies said.
Suspect apprehended near the scene
Using the information seen in the surveillance video, deputies located a shirtless Whittaker waving a shirt over his head on Providence Boulevard at least 1,500 feet from where he shot Whitmer, a report showed.
Whittaker was arrested at gunpoint but immediately told deputies he had nothing to say to them, the report said.
A K-9 unit located Whittaker’s shoulder bag near a trail where he was arrested. Inside the bag deputies found a Glock 19 that had a capacity of 15 rounds. A 9mm round was chambered, and three extra rounds were in the magazine. The rounds were similar to the 11 casings found at the scene where Whitmer was shot, investigating deputies said.
Two extra loaded magazines, several tactical knives, a tourniquet, and flashlights were also found in Whittaker’s shoulder bag, deputies wrote in their report.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Deltona condo resident shot victim 11 times according to report
Reporting by Patricio G. Balona, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
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