The bodies of a murder suspect and a 20-year-old woman were found inside the Gibsonton home where a SWAT standoff ended Thursday evening.
The bodies of murder suspect James Seagraves, 29, and Kayla Nemoto, 20, of Deltona, were found in a bathroom in the home. Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee said in a news conference following the standoff his deputies did not kill anyone in the home.
The standoff was triggered after deputies attempted to serve an arrest warrant on Seagraves at the home. The suspect barricaded himself inside a home in the 9600 block of Symmes Road around 1 p.m. Officials said the standoff ended around 5:30 p.m.
SWAT team members broke out windows and rammed the front door of the home. Officials tell Bay News 9 they were in contact with Seagraves and a female by phone, but they would continually hang up on them.
Following several hours of silence from the man and woman, a SWAT team entered the home.
"After that, we got into this prolonged confrontation with him," Gee said. "We introduced chemical agents ... into the residence. And after failing to get any response from that, we did an entry into the residence." Tear gas was deployed into the home.
Officials initially said Seagraves' girlfriend was in the home, but have since stated it is not clear if the woman in the home was his girlfriend.
The causes of Seagraves and Nemoto's deaths will be released following a medical examiner's autopsy.
Deland Police: Suspect in standoff wanted for murder of restaurant manager
Deland Police officials announced they believe the suspect who was barricaded inside the mobile home is wanted for a March 31 murder in Volusia County.
At a news conference Thursday evening, DeLand Police said Seagraves is linked to the murder of Tom Walsh, 43, the manager of the Mainstreet Grill restaurant, who was killed March 31. Police said Seagraves was a former employee at the restaurant.
Walsh was a native of Ireland and many who knew him said his sole reason for staying in DeLand was his 12-year-old daughter Kira. In an interview with Bay News 9 on Thursday night, Kira said she watched on TV as the man accused of killing her father barricaded himself in the Gibsonton home.
Hillsborough County Sheriff's officials confirmed the suspect is wanted "on various charges from Deland."
Students at schools in area affected by SWAT standoff now home
In a statement, Hillsborough County Public Schools officials announced dozens of students who live in the area who were kept at their respective schools as the incident developed have now been able to get to their homes.
Students affected attend Corr, Doby, and Gibsonton Elementary Schools; Eisenhower Middle School; East Bay High School; and South County Career Center.
Officials said students who live in the area of Symmes Road, between Bull Frog Creek and East Bay Roads who ride school buses, were being kept at their schools because buses could not get to their stops.
In addition, magnet school students who live within those boundaries were dropped off at Corr Elementary School at 13020 Kings Lake Dr.