Orlando: Officer killed and Deputy Sheriff dies in crash in pursuit of killer

UPDATE: The name of the female officer has been released. She is Master Sgt. Debra Clayton.

Developing -- A wanted murder suspect, Markeith Loyd, is accused of shooting and killing an Orlando police officer on Monday. Law enforcement say that he is a felon with  20 arrests since 1994 in Orange County, and is possibly armed and dangerous.

Loyd  was accused of murdering his pregnant ex-girlfriend in December.

He was wearing a security uniform at the time of Monday's shooting, according to a witness, James Herman. "(The shooter) was an average looking dude, he walked by me, had a security vest and everything. I was walking down the sidewalk, right past past the officer, and I heard her tell him to stop, or whatever, and he shot her. He shot her down."

Loyd has been on the run since December 13 after police accused him of shooting and killing 24-year-old Sade Dixon, pregnant and a mother of two, and critically wounding her brother, Ronald Steward.

The shooting of the officer happened outside a Walmart. The unnamed officer was tipped off by a shopper who was putting her belongings away in her car. As the officer walked towards the store, the suspect ran out and fired about a dozen rounds and three hit the officer.

A manhunt was launched and the perp pulled into an apartment complex, fired shots and hit one deputy's unmarked SUV twice, then carjacked another vehicle and escaped. Thankfully, nobody was reported injured at the apartment complex. However, in pursuit of the suspect, a deputy sheriff was killed in a vehicular accident.

City Commissioner Regina Hill identified the female officer as her Orlando Police Department liason but her name was not given.

Blue Lives Matter.



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