Authorities seeking suspect in killing of Orlando officer

Associated Press

ORLANDO, FLA.

An Orlando police sergeant was shot and killed Monday after approaching a suspect wanted for questioning in the murder of his pregnant ex-girlfriend.

A second law-enforcement officer was killed in a motorcycle crash while responding to a massive manhunt for the suspect.

More than a dozen schools were placed in lockdown during the manhunt, and authorities were offering a $60,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Markeith Loyd, the 41-year-old suspect wanted in the killing of Master Sgt. Debra Clayton.

Officers and deputies focused their manhunt on an apartment complex in northwest Orlando, and dozens of residences had been searched. Residents who were evacuated from their homes sat on a sidewalk along a street with heavily armed officers and deputies and a parked SWAT team truck.

Clayton, 42, was killed outside a Wal-Mart store in northwest Orlando early Monday, and Orange County Sheriff’s Office Deputy First Class Norman Lewis was killed in a crash while responding to a manhunt for Loyd.

Another Orlando police officer was involved in a crash while responding to the shooting but had only minor injuries.

Authorities said Loyd previously was a suspect in the murder of his pregnant ex-girlfriend in December.

“He should be considered armed and dangerous,” Police Chief John Mina said at a morning press conference. Later in the day, the chief said, “It doesn’t matter where he is. We will track him down to the ends of the Earth.”

Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said deputies had been searching unsuccessfully for Loyd for several weeks and believe he was receiving help from someone.

At an afternoon news conference, Demings urged Loyd to turn himself in peacefully.

“If we have to go in after him, then that jeopardizes and puts at risk the safety of law-enforcement officers ... and we cannot control what happens in that situation,” Demings said.

Mina lauded Clayton, a 17-year veteran of the force as a “committed” officer and “a hero” who gave her life to the community she loves. The Orlando Police Department said in a tweet that Clayton always had a smile and a high five for every child she came across.

Clayton had grown up in the Orlando area and was active in programs that mentored young people, Mina said.

Clayton was a supervisor for a patrol division in the neighborhood where she was shot, and she previously had worked in investigations and as a school resource officer, Deputy Chief Orlando Rolon said.

She was married and had a college-age son. She died Monday at 7:40 a.m., less than an hour after she was shot while on duty.

Authorities said 17 area schools were placed in lockdown after the shooting.

While at the Wal-Mart on Monday morning, Clayton was tipped off by someone that Loyd was in the area. When she approached him, he fired multiple shots at Clayton, who was wearing body armor, Mina said.

Clayton returned fire but didn’t hit him, he said.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office deputy was killed more than two hours after the shooting when a van collided with his motorcycle as he responded to the manhunt.