A Connecticut man was shot and killed by a Florida sheriff’s sniper after he allegedly fired more than 200 rounds at neighboring homes and at authorities over several hours on Thursday.

The suspect, identified as Joseph DiFusco, was killed by a sniper with the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, but no one else was harmed, the sheriff’s office said. 

DiFusco, 56, was a snowbird who possibly brought firearms from out of state because he was staying at an Airbnb, Sheriff Mike Chitwood said, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal. 

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Deputies responded to the Kingston Shores condominiums near Ormond-by-the-Sea at around 4 a.m. after DiFusco reported having suicidal thoughts but declined medical transport, FOX Orlando reported. Deputies were called back to the area two hours later when DiFusco allegedly began firing into neighboring units and at responding law enforcement officers.

“Probably fired over 200 rounds,” Chitwood said. “[You could] hear bullets whizzing over our heads, and we were 100 yards back.”

Chitwood said deputies conducted three previous visits to the condominium complex, the news station reported. 

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Volusia County Sheriff’s Office deputies are shown near where a man was killed after he allegedly fired more than 200 rounds at a Florida condo complex on Thursday. (Volusia County Sheriff’s Office)

“He was not going to negotiate,” he told the news station. “Every time we would try to negotiate, he would fire on us. [He] turned off his phone. He was armed to the teeth.”

Neighbors were evacuated from the area. Chitwood said DiFusco’s family reached out to authorities before the incident, saying they feared for their safety. 

“They were so scared of him, they were sleeping in a car,” he said.

He noted that DiFusco had reportedly stopped taking his medication and had not slept for days.

The walls of the Florida condo complex were riddled with bullets on Thursday. (Volusia County Sheriff’s Office)

Images released by the sheriff’s office show the outside walls of the complex riddled with bullet holes. The ordeal lasted more than five hours.

DiFusco barricaded himself in his rental unit and was armed with at least three guns, authorities said.

A Florida mother wanted to give her son a special 13th birthday to remember, so she reached out to her fellow community members for help.

Marie posted on the Tampa Bay Fishing Club Facebook group looking to see if anyone could take her son, Stash, out fishing on a boat for his first time since she is a single parent and quotes for charters were out of her price range.

“To be honest I really wasn’t expecting much from the post, but was blown away by the amount of amazing people who offered and commented,” Marie told Fox News Digital via email.

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Through the post, she connected with Captain Todd Young of Reel Memories Fishing Charter who has been running charters for six years in the waters of Tampa Bay.

Young told Fox News Digital via email that he responded to the post and was happy to help.

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“Originally [Marie] was looking for a charter for just her son and that can get really expensive. A bunch of people reached out that they would help donate the full price of the trip to get him out since he was a great kid,” said Young.

Captain Todd Young helped a single mother, Hannah May Marie, arrange a fishing excursion for her son’s 13th birthday at no cost. (Hannah May Marie)

He added, “It was so nice to see everyone willing to help to get him out for a fun day of fishing. I thought about it for a few days and reached back out to the mom telling her I would take him at no cost to her.”

Young, Marie and Stash all ventured out on a fishing boat on Stash’s birthday. 

“It was the best birthday I have ever had being able to fish off a boat and catch so many fish, and I really want to do it again,” Stash told Fox News Digital via email.

Stash reeled in a 30-inch slot snook that he and his mother were able to bring home and cook.

Stash and Young reeled in a 30-inch slot snook in Tampa Bay waters. (Hannah May Marie)

“If he could, he would be fishing every day, all day, and has taught himself pretty much everything he knows by watching YouTube videos and tutorials,” said Marie.

On the charter, Young helped teach Stash a few new fishing techniques.

“In a world that has turned into nothing but all about electronics, I have been so relieved that my son has found a passion outside and away from video games,” Marie added.

FIRST ON FOX — Gov. Brian Kemp, the new chair of the Republican Governors Association, is aiming to build on the GOP momentum coming out of the 2024 elections as he looks ahead to the next gubernatorial showdowns.

“We’ve had great successes,” the popular GOP governor of Georgia told Fox News Digital as he pointed to President-elect Trump’s 2024 victory as well as Republican gubernatorial, congressional and down-ballot triumphs this month.

Republicans held onto their 27-23 gubernatorial advantage in the 2024 elections, thanks in part to the efforts of the RGA.

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Looking ahead, New Jersey and Virginia are the only two states to hold gubernatorial elections next year, giving them outsized national attention and making them key barometers for the mood of Americans during the start of a new presidential term.

A competitive GOP primary is underway in blue-state New Jersey, where Republicans hope to win a gubernatorial election for the first time in a dozen years.

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And in Virginia, the GOP is rallying around Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears as she aims to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin [Virginia governors can only serve one consecutive four-year term] and make history as the state’s first woman governor and the nation’s first Black female governor.

Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (Kristen Zeis/For Washington Post via Getty Images)

“We’re ready to keep working as we move into what will be a tough cycle for us in Virginia, in New Jersey, and then having 36 races in 2026,” Kemp said last week in his first interview after being elected RGA chair at the group’s annual winter meeting, which was held this year at a waterfront resort in Marco Island, Florida.

Kemp emphasized that “my goal is for us to continue to raise enough money to be competitive. The Democrats are outspending us because they have big check writers, but we have a lot of really dedicated donors. We’ll try to continue to build the tent, make sure that we have good candidates and win because our policies are better.”

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Kemp said his own comfortable re-election in 2022 and Trump’s victory in battleground Georgia this month in the presidential election “gives us a lot of confidence, a lot of hope, but we also know that the ’26 midterm is going to be tough.” 

Kemp is term-limited and can’t seek another term in office in 2026. The contest to succeed him will be a top gubernatorial election in two years.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (Fox News)

“I’m going to be very engaged, you can rest assured, to making sure that my [successors] are Republican. I have a vested interest in doing that,” Kemp said. “We’ll be working with the Trump administration and a lot of other people to make sure that that’s happening not only in Georgia but in other states around the country, in places like Kansas, where we have a Democratic governor right now, in places like Arizona, where we have a really good shot at winning the governor’s races. So we’re going to be on offense.”

Georgia will also have a high-profile Senate showdown as Republicans aim to defeat Democrat Sen. Jon Ossoff in 2026.

Asked if he’ll be courted by national Republicans to take on Ossoff, Kemp responded, “Well, I may.”

But he quickly pivoted, stressing that “my focus right now, being just elected the chairman of the Republican Governors Association, is on raising money for us to be competitive in 2025 and 2026. I’ve made the commitment to do that, and I’m going to fulfill that commitment. We’ll see what happens down the road with anything else.”

Asked if he’s not ruling out a possible 2026 Senate bid or even a 2028 White House run, the governor said, “I try to keep all doors open in politics.”