Man threatening wife shot dead by Orange County deputy

54-year-old Eric Wayne Dunphy pronounced dead at scene

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Officials said a man threatening to kill his wife was shot and killed by an Orange County sheriff's deputy.

Eric Wayne Dunphy, 54, was killed in the shooting, which happened around 6:30 p.m. Sunday in a mobile home park near the 4400 block of Edgewater Drive.

According to the Orange County Sheriff's Office, deputies arrived at the scene and found a woman who had called 911.  When the woman's husband, later identified as Dunphy, saw the deputies, officials said he grabbed her, put her in a headlock and placed some sort of tool to the back of her head while telling police they'd have to kill him to stop him from killing her.

The Orange County Sheriff's Office said the deputy then shot Dunphy.

"The deputy used his best judgment," an Orange County sheriff's spokeswoman said.

Dunphy was pronounced dead at the scene.  The woman was not harmed.

Deputies told Local 6 that Dunphy's wife had a domestic violence injunction against her husband, but the couple still lived together. 

The Sheriff's Office had been called to the Dunphys' home twice before Sunday's incident, resulting in Dunphy's arrest both times on domestic battery charges.  He also served time in prison for trafficking stolen property out of Pasco County.

The deputy who shot Dunphy has been on the force since March 2008, officials said.  He's been placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure in a  shooting involving a law enforcement officer.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will investigate the shooting.