St. Cloud elementary school employee mistakenly shot, killed by mother

Channel 9 learned the woman who was accidentally shot and killed by her mother was a paraprofessional at Neptune Elementary School in St. Cloud.

A longtime undercover drug officer with the St. Cloud Police Department was asleep inside the house late Tuesday when the woman shot her daughter thinking she was an intruder, police said.

Few details have been released in the case because the undercover officer lives in the home.

State law affords privacy protection to Florida law enforcement officers, including not disclosing their home addresses.

The officer, who is the victim's stepfather, was not involved in the shooting, police said. He has been with the St. Cloud Police Department since 1998.

Police have said the victim was entering the house late Tuesday. They did not say if she lived there or somewhere else.

The girl’s mother, who is an Osceola County dispatcher, was convinced someone was breaking into the home, so she retrieved a gun and fired, hitting her daughter.

The 27-year-old was taken to Osceola Regional Hospital, where she died.

The mother is being monitored in a hospital.

In a 911 call, the undercover officer told the dispatcher he was asleep when the shooting happened and thought his wife’s daughter fell on the ground because of a heart condition. He did not mention a gunshot.

Police have asked the media not to identify the family members involved because of the stepfather's work as an undercover officer.

Investigators said evidence at the scene is consistent with the mother’s story.

The case will be forwarded to the State Attorney’s Office once all the evidence is gathered.

The victim started working at the school in February 2015.

Officials said a grief counselor will be on hand at the school when faculty and students return, which is standard procedure.