By MES Dispatch staff
The Briefing
- • Two Gainesville (Fla.) Police officers were wounded in an ambush-style attack while attempting to stop a suspect connected to a fatal shooting at a local lumberyard.
- • The officers exchanged gunfire with the suspect, who was killed by responding police.
- • A second victim was found dead inside the lumber business where the incident began.
- • Both officers were treated at a hospital and expected to recover, authorities said.
GAINESVILLE, FL — Two Gainesville Police Department officers were shot and wounded Wednesday morning in an ambush while attempting to stop a man suspected of fatally shooting another person, authorities announced.
Officers responded shortly before 8 a.m. Jan. 14 to reports of shots fired near East University Avenue and Waldo Road, where they later located a vehicle believed to be fleeing the scene of a fatal shooting at a lumberyard.
When the officers attempted to stop the vehicle, the suspect exited and opened fire, striking both officers, Gainesville Police Chief Nelson Moya said.
Additional officers arrived, returned fire and killed the suspect, according to police. Investigators also located the body of another person inside Imeca Lumber & Hardware, which police believe is connected to the initial shooting.
Both wounded officers were transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and were expected to recover fully, Moya said.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is assisting the investigation into the officer-involved shooting and homicide.