Civilian employees escaped injury, while the department plans critical-incident support and investigators examine what prompted the shooting.
PORT ORANGE, Fla. — The Port Orange Police Department will keep its public lobby closed until Tuesday after a woman fired a handgun toward an area occupied by civilian employees Thursday, setting off an emergency response that ended with officers shooting her outside the headquarters.
The closure is one of the immediate effects of an unusual shooting inside the department’s own public-facing workspace. Police Chief Manuel Marino said 71-year-old Linda Jean Croteau entered the lobby shortly after 8 a.m. Sept. 3 and interacted with staff members at the records section while carrying a handgun. Police say she displayed the firearm and later fired one round toward an area where employees were working.
None of the civilian employees was physically injured. Marino said the department planned a critical-incident debrief and other support for employees and officers affected by the shooting. Such resources, he said, are provided after critical incidents involving department personnel.
The lobby, where members of the public normally conduct police-related business, is expected to remain closed through Monday and reopen Tuesday, Sept. 8. Investigators spent hours processing the headquarters and parking lot Thursday after the gunfire.
Police said Croteau remained inside the lobby for several minutes before leaving through the front entrance. Responding officers then confronted her outside. Marino said she was still holding the handgun when that confrontation began.
Three Port Orange officers were involved in the shooting outside the building. Croteau was struck and taken to a hospital, where police said she was in critical condition. No officers were injured.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the officer-involved shooting. Authorities have not released a complete account of the officers’ actions immediately before shots were fired outside, and body-camera footage from the encounter had not been publicly released as of Friday.
Police also had not established why Croteau went to the department with a firearm. Marino said investigators were examining whether she had previous contact with Port Orange police, but no motive had been announced. Authorities have not disclosed evidence showing why the records area or its employees were approached.
The incident prompted an active-shooter response inside a building designed to serve as both a police workplace and a point of public access. Marino said the shot fired in the lobby went toward an area near the department’s property and evidence section. Employees were there at the time, but no one was hit.
Police said there was no ongoing threat to the community once the incident ended. The headquarters investigation and temporary lobby closure remained in effect Friday as state investigators continued reviewing the shooting and Port Orange police addressed the impact on employees.
Author note: Last updated September 4, 2026.