Police hunt for officer’s killer
Second officer dies in crash responding to shooting report
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, and 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 for the murder 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 Walmart 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 also was involved in a crash while responding to the shooting but only had minor injuries.
Authorities said Loyd previously was a suspect in the murder of his pregnant ex-girlfriend last 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.
“She was always the first to step up and help kids,” the chief 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, said Deputy Chief Orlando Rolon.