HUDSON (970 WFLA) -- Pasco deputies say a man is dead after holding off deputies during a standoff in the Gulf Highlands neighborhood.
The standoff forced school officials to place Gulf Highlands Elementary School, two blocks away, on lockdown. In the photo, you see people gathered outside the school. Deputies have been working to reunite students and parents.
Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco identifies the man as Brian DeSario, 30. Nocco says DeSario had a history of mental illness and believed he had a girlfriend, and believed that a friend of his mother's had been trying to hit on her.
Nocco says DeSario kept several firearms and ammunition at his home and shot and killed that friend, then engaged in a gunbattle with deputies, in the middle of a street just a block and a half away from the school.
No deputies were hurt. The two deputies involved in the gunfire are on administrative leave during the investigation.
Deputies remain on the scene collecting evidence, and expect to be at Gulf Highlands Elementary to provide reassurance to parents and students tomorrow.
PHOTO: Total Traffic Network