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According to sheriff's officials, the department received a 911 call right before midnight from Jason Raffaeli, 25, who lived at the Amelia Island Surf and Racquet Club Condominiums, saying there were three armed men inside his apartment.
The department dispatched four deputies and a sergeant to his home. Once on scene, the sergeant called Raffaeli on his cell phone asking him if he could come outside, the sheriff's department said.
Raffaeli told officers that he had a .45 caliber handgun with several rounds of ammunition and would not come out and had barricaded himself in the bathroom.
After almost an hour trying to get him to come out, deputies on the scene called for the Special Response Team to respond, since they were specially equipped to handle barricaded subjects, the department said.
Before SRT members arrived, deputies on the scene heard several gunshots coming from inside the residence. After the gunshots, deputies could not get in touch with Raffaeli again.
After the SRT team arrived they attempted again to reestablish communication with him but were unsuccessful. They then made the decision to break in the door and deploy gas into the residence to force Raffaeli out.
That's when Raffaeli suddenly appeared in the doorway holding a handgun. Deputies identified themselves and ordered him to drop the gun, but he refused and retreated back inside the condo. SRT members started to enter the residence when he suddenly reappeared and told them "Tell my Daddy I love him and make sure you shoot me in the head," then he shot at the deputies and three members of the SRT Team with rifles shot him several times.
Nassau County Fire Rescue arrived on scene and pronounced him dead, the sheriff's department said.
The total time from the original call to pronouncing him deceased was a little over 3 ½ hours.
"We are not sure at this time what his problem was, but he had been arrested on drug charges in Connecticut in the past," department officials said. "We did respond to this address on Feb. 27, 2018, in reference to a domestic dispute between him and a female friend who were arguing for personal reasons. He wanted the female and her child to leave his condo, which they eventually did."
The investigation of the shooting is being conducted by FDLE, and once complete, will be reviewed by the state attorney’s office.
The three SRT Team members who shot Raffaeli will be on leave until they are cleared to come back to work.
Raffaeli was charged with carrying a pistol without a permit in September in Stamford. He was out on $300,000 bail. He was also arrested in Stamford in January 2017 with more than a half-pound of pot and survived the shooting in 2016.
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