Alleged Fla. gunman in firefight found dead

PANAMA CITY, Fla. — A man suspected of trading wild bursts of gunfire with officers during a long standoff in the Florida Panhandle was found dead yesterday in a gasoline-soaked apartment after an armored vehicle approached, authorities said.

“We were just blessed that we didn’t lose multiple officers and citizens today,” Bay County Sheriff Tommy Ford said at a news conference in Panama City, a small Gulf Coast city near the state’s famous sugar-sand beaches. He said a robot had to be deployed to check the apartment before officers could enter, finding the man dead.

No law enforcement agents were shot or wounded, but one person leaving her apartment was injured and in stable condition, he said.

“Luckily none of the good guys were hurt,” Ford said at a news conference.

He described the dangerous situation that unfolded yesterday in the tourist community as a “nightmare scenario for us.”

Ford said sporadic bursts of heavy gunfire had pinned several officers down at times as the suspected assailant fired from an elevated position with a rifle. Several law enforcement agents had surrounded the apartment building.

The sheriff wouldn’t say whether the suspect, 49-year-old Kevin Robert Holroyd, killed himself during the barrage of bullets or if he was struck by an officer’s bullet. He did say Holroyd doused the apartment in gasoline and tried to set it on fire.

Broadcasters showed televised footage of armed officers kneeling behind police cars and other positions around the building as gunfire continued sporadically and sirens blared.