Sheriff: Suspect in Florida standoff, gunfire, found dead
PANAMA CITY, Fla. (AP) — A man suspected of trading wild bursts of gunfire with officers during a long standoff in the Florida Panhandle was found dead Tuesday 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.
He described the dangerous situation that unfolded Tuesday in the tourist community as a “nightmare scenario for us,” with authorities estimating 100 rounds fired during the altercation. 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, but he said officers did hear a final, muffled shot from inside the apartment before the scene went silent.
He also said Holroyd doused the apartment in gasoline, saying they believe Holroyd intended to start a fire.