911 Caller Fatally Shot by Responding Deputies After Rushed Deputies With A Knife

On May 7, 2025, at around 11:00 p.m., the Orange County Sheriff's Office communication center received a 9-1-1 call from the 3900 Block of Titelist Court in Orlando. The caller, later identified as 19-year-old Vanessa Eugene, claimed to have been strangled and battered inside an apartment. Deputies arrived at a second floor apartment unit in response to Eugene's 9-1-1 call and to check and make sure she was safe. Deputies knocked and identified themselves, but there was no answer. As deputies were trying to assess the situation, they heard screaming inside the apartment. While deputies heard a woman say she was "Okay," it was unclear if the voice belonged to Eugene, if someone else was inside, or if anyone was in danger.

Deputies continued to knock as they heard a woman inside crying. Deputies breached the front door but remained outside the apartment, continuing to try to communicate with Eugene a voice was heard coming from behind a closed bedroom door at the rear of the apartment. About six minutes after breaching the front door and continuing to try to communicate, Sergeant #1 saw movement at the bedroom door and heard a woman asking for help. Deputies entered the apartment. A woman was standing behind the bedroom door when sergeant #1 kicked it open. She screamed, then ran into the bathroom and shut the door. It was unknown who the woman was or if anyone else was in the bathroom with her. Deputies entered the back bedroom and instructed the woman to come out of the bathroom with her hands up. There was no response. Sergeant #1 authorized Deputy #1 to breach the bathroom door.

The woman, holding a kitchen knife and screaming, ran out of the bathroom and charged at Sergeant #1, attempting to stab him. Sergeant #1 and Deputy #2 discharged their service weapons. The woman who ran from the bathroom with the knife was Vanessa Eugene, the 9-1-1 caller. Deputies immediately began first aid as paramedics responded to the scene. Eugene was transported to a hospital, where she later died. Eugene held onto the knife after the shots were fired. A deputy removed it from her hand. Eugene was alone in the apartment. It's still not clear whether anyone else was in the apartment, as Eugene alleged in the 911 call. Investigators believe she was alone in the apartment following the 9-1-1 call. No deputies or uninvolved members of the public were injured during this incident.