Man kills 2 deputies, dies after being shot

CRESTVIEW, Fla. (AP) — Two north Florida deputy sheriffs were fatally shot at a shooting range by a suspect who was later killed by deputies after he fled across the county line, authorities said.

It happened around 1 p.m. Saturday when the two Okaloosa County deputies went to Shoal River Sporting Clays and Shooting Center in response to a call, said Michele Nicholson, a sheriff’s spokeswoman.

Deputies Burt Lopez and Warren “Skip” York were pronounced dead after being airlifted to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, about 45 miles away, the sheriff’s office said. Sheriff’s officials identified their killer as Joshua Cartwright, 28, of Fort Walton Beach.

Authorities said the suspect shot both deputies and took off toward neighboring Walton County, where he was shot and killed by deputies.

A witness, Mark Illich, was near the DeFuniak Springs intersection where deputies killed Cartwright.

“It must have been like 30 or 40 shots,” Illich told The Northwest Florida Daily News.

Illich said he saw one officer putting down spikes at the intersection and knew “something’s about to happen.”

Then, “[Cartwright’s] truck, he started coming. And we saw him, and he seemed calm as a cucumber,” Illich said.

Cartwright veered around the spike strip, and an officer opened fire at the back of his truck, Illich said.

The deputies had gone to the shooting range while following up on a domestic violence call from Cartwright’s apartment in Fort Walton Beach, authorities said.