Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Police pursue suspect in officer shooting
Hundreds of law enforcement officials were searching for Markeith Loyd, who is accused of killing an Orlando cop who was trying to arrest him.
Hundreds of law enforcement officers were searching overnight for a fugitive who is accused of killing a cop at dawn on Monday when she tried to chase him down at a Walmart and arrest him.
A second law enforcement official died in a crash just hours later as officers and deputies scrambled to find the murder suspect.
By Monday evening, officers largely abandoned the apartment complex in northwest Orlando that was the focus of their search for much of the day, and Markeith Loyd, 41, was still at large.
“We are going to bring this dirtbag to justice, and he’s going to jail,” Orlando Police Chief John Mina said.
Loyd has been wanted for murder since his pregnant ex- girlfriend was shot at her front door on Dec. 13.
He has a long criminal history and on Nov. 30 wrote on his Facebook page: “Goals !!!! To be on Americas most wanted.”
The manhunt prompted the lockdown of more than a dozen schools and snarled traffic for hours.
“If you don’t have to be out, don’t be out,” Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs said Monday morning.
A $60,000 reward was offered for information leading to Loyd’s capture, and both Orlando police and the Sheriff’s Office described him as armed and dangerous.
The violence started about 7:15 a.m. at the Walmart at John
Young Parkway and Princeton Street, when someone spotted Loyd, knew he was wanted for murder and told Orlando police Master Sgt. Debra Clayton, who also happened to be at the store.
She was on the job, in uniform and wearing body armor, Mina said. She called dispatch, then started chasing after Loyd.
She yelled for him to “stop” but instead the felon opened fire. She shot back but didn’t hit him, Mina said.
Backup officers who arrived 28 seconds later tried to save Clayton with CPR, according to the city, but she was pronounced dead at 7:40 a.m. at Orlando Regional Medical Center.
A short distance from the Walmart, a captain at the Orange County Sheriff’s Office spotted Loyd near Pine Hills Road and North Lane, according to that department.
Loyd pulled into an apartment complex and fired at least once at the deputy, who was in an unmarked SUV. The bullet missed him but hit his SUV.
The suspect then carjacked a vehicle and fled. He abandoned that vehicle near Cinderlane Parkway, officials said.
A massive manhunt for Loyd resulted in two motorcycle crashes by Orange County deputies, one fatal.
Deputy Norman Lewis, 35, an 11-year Sheriff’s Office veteran and former football player at the University of Central Florida, was killed 21⁄2 hours after the shooting.
He was traveling south on Pine Hills Road on his motorcycle when he was struck by a van turning left onto Balboa Drive, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
“We’re sad on this day for many reasons,” Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said at a morning news conference at the hospital. “In my 36-year career, this is possibly one of the toughest days for me.”
The driver of the van, Billie Jarrard of Clermont, could possibly face charges in the crash, troopers said. No one answered the phone Monday at Jarrard’s home. Records show he is a 78-year-old recent widower with no criminal history in Florida.
Ten minutes after Lewis’ crash, another deputy was involved in a wreck that sent him to the hospital. It happened just 200 yards down Pine Hills Road. Orange County Deputy Nelson Borjas, 46, had minor injuries and is expected to recover.