Man shot, killed as cops chase Mo. spree couple

A weeklong search for a Missouri couple wanted in a series of robberies and abductions across the South ended with one suspect dead and the other wounded Friday, after authorities say they exchanged gunfire with them in Florida’s Panhandle.

Blake Fitzgerald died and Brittany Nicole Harper was at a hospital under armed guard with a wounded leg, Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said at a news conference. She faces charges including home invasion, robbery, false imprisonment and grand theft auto, but no court appearances are scheduled, Morgan said.

The sheriff said the chase began shortly after reports of an armed robbery at a Famous Footwear store in Pensacola at 7:56 p.m. Thursday. Witness said the man held a gun on the clerk while the woman shopped, according to Morgan.

Authorities began chasing the couple, following them to nearby Pensacola Beach, Morgan said. At one point, authorities lost sight of the pair for a couple of hours, Morgan said, during which time they held a Pensacola family hostage and eventually fled in the family’s red pickup truck.

It was 12:16 a.m. Friday when the vehicle was spotted on Interstate 10, Morgan said. Deputies followed the truck as it exited and went down a rural road.

Morgan said his deputies had a standoff with the couple for about 15 minutes before Fitzgerald got out of the truck and appeared to be heading into a home that was occupied near the small town of Milton. Gunfire erupted, and Fitzgerald was killed.

Authorities had linked Fitzgerald and Harper to a series of crimes in Alabama and Georgia, saying the offenses fit a similar pattern: People were robbed, kidnapped and let go unharmed, usually after a vehicle is stolen.

Authorities said the couple had been on the run since January. Police in Joplin, Mo., had wanted to interview the two about a Jan. 22 break-in. The couple also is suspected in two Florida robberies.