Police: After beating elderly couple in Ormond, suspect shoots cop

ORMOND BEACH – After severely beating an elderly couple at a business and sending them to the hospital in critical condition, a suspect wrested a gun away from an Ormond Beach police officer and shot him in an attempt to escape, Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young said at a Sept. 21 news conference.

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The shooting occurred at AdventHealth Daytona Beach. The officer’s injury is considered to be non-life-threatening.

At the same news conference, Young also said that he will be calling for a full review of the medical staff’s behavior and how they treated the Daytona Beach officers who responded to the shooting at the hospital

“A lot of my officers are very upset with the treatment that they endured last night by medical staff at the hospital,” Young said at the news conference.

An AdventHealth spokesperson told The News-Journal that hospital officials will support and cooperate with the Daytona Beach Police Department’s investigation.

“The safety of our patients, visitors and team members is always our highest priority. We are grateful for the swift actions of those who responded and our hearts are with everyone affected by this incident,” said Lindsay Cashio, executive director of communications for AdventHealth’s east Florida division. “We are supporting local law enforcement as its investigation continues, and all inquiries should be directed to local authorities.”

Young joined Ormond Beach Police Chief Jesse Godfrey on Sept. 21 to brief the media about the incident that left Ormond Beach Police Officer Austin Long with a bullet wound to the leg.

Michael Hightower, 40, had earlier attacked an elderly couple Sept. 20 and crashed his vehicle as he fled the scene, and was tased when officers located him and arrested him, Ormond Beach police Chief Jesse Godfrey said. He was taken to the hospital for medical clearance.

That’s where he attacked Long.

Hightower was being held in the Volusia County Branch Jail on Sept. 21 without bail on two counts of attempted felony murder and resisting an officer with violence.

Daytona Beach police charged Hightower with aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, two counts of battery on a specified personnel (police/firefighter/medical), and assault on a law enforcement officer.

Daytona man battered elderly couple checking out a burglary alarm at Daytona College, Ormond police chief said

According to Godfrey, Ormond Beach police were called to Daytona College at 425 S. Nova Road on Sept. 20 around 6:43 p.m. for an assault.

Officers arriving on the scene found that a 79-year-old man and a 74-year-old woman had been severely beaten, Godfrey said.

An investigation revealed that the couple had gone to the address to check out what set off a burglary alarm. When they got to the scene, the husband and wife found an unknown wallet, ID card and what appeared to be an alcoholic beverage.

The woman texted her son and for two hours chatted with him about the intruder in the vocational and technical school, who police said was a contracted cleaning person at the college.

The son advised the victims to call 911, which they did while standing outside the building, the Ormond Beach police chief said.

While there, Hightower exited the building and got in his car and struck the woman. He then got out of the vehicle and attacked the victims. Hightower assaulted the couple, striking and kicking them multiple times, police said.

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The couple were rushed to the hospital.

Police from various agencies looked for Hightower and found him walking in the 300 block of Clyde Morris Boulevard around 7:37 p.m. Hightower was arrested and taken to the Ormond Beach Police Department for questioning.

Hightower was then taken around 3:20 a.m. Sept. 21 to AdventHealth to be checked out for injuries he sustained in a crash when he fled and for being tased when he resisted arrest, Godfrey said.

Daytona man attacked Ormond officer at hospital in an effort to escape, police chief said

Young said the shooting at the hospital remains under investigation, but the chief shared what he said happened at the hospital when the Ormond officer got shot.

“From what we know right now there was a struggle while the suspect was going through an MRI and the officers were attempting to restrain him,” Young said. “At some point, the suspect was able to reach over and grab the officer’s gun while it was in its holster. At some point, we believe that gun was removed just enough for one shot to be fired. That one shot struck the officer in the leg.”

Young said the officers were able to pull back far enough and stopped Hightower from taking complete control of the firearm.

Asked if he believed Hightower was trying to escape, Young said, “Obviously it’s still under investigation, but I can’t think of any other reason for as combative as he was other than to hurt or kill an officer in an attempt to escape.”

Daytona police chief wants full review of how his officers were treated by medical staff

Young revealed at the news conference that he was not happy with the hospital’s staff for mistreating his officers who responded to the shooting at AdventHealth.

Officers were upset by the way they were treated by the on-duty ER doctor, Young said.

“I will be calling for a full review of this incident because I can tell you that a lot of my officers are very upset with the treatment that they endured last night by medical staff in that hospital,” Young said. “I don’t want to say too much because I have not had the opportunity to do a full review myself but there is no reason for them to come to me upset as they are based on the way they were treated by the current on-duty ER doctor last night.”

Young said that if he finds out that what his officers told him was true, he will call on the administration of the medical facility to address the mistreatment of his officers.

“And if what I’m told is true, I will be going to the higher ups at AdventHealth hospital. We should all be on the same team and all of our jobs are extremely important,” Young said. “At the end of the day we are both trying to save lives. It’s their role to save lives in the hospital. It’s our role to save lives both in the hospital and in the community.”

― Patricio G. Balona is a crime and public safety reporter covering Volusia County and occasionally Flagler County. His coverage areas include Daytona Beach, DeLand, Ormond Beach and beyond.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Police: After beating elderly couple in Ormond, suspect shoots cop

Reporting by Patricio G. Balona, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal

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This story was originally published September 21, 2026 at 6:09 PM.