It was one of several police shootings on Friday night. A suspect was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.
A police officer was shot to death and another was seriously wounded Friday night in Kissimmee, Fla., in what the police chief said may have been an ambush while the two men were responding to a call complaining of suspicious activity on the city’s north side.
The officers were found around 9: 30 p.m. at the intersection of Palmway and Cypress Streets after residents reported the shooting, Chief Jeffrey O’ Dell said.
One of the officers, Matthew Baxter, who had been on the force for three years, later died. The other, Sgt. Sam Howard, a 10-year veteran, was reported to be in critical condition “and the prognosis does not look good, ” Chief O’ Dell said.
Everett Glenn Miller was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, Chief O’ Dell said at a news conference on Saturday morning. He was being brought to jail in Officer Baxter’s handcuffs, the chief said.
The shooting in Kissimmee, about 20 miles south of Orlando, occurred during what Chief O’ Dell called a “consensual encounter to get out and check.”
“Nobody was being placed in handcuffs, ” the chief said. “If all things checked out, the officers would have been on their way.”
Chief O’ Dell said officers are often called to North Kissimmee. Residents, he said, “get tired of putting up with some of the drug dealing and nonsense that goes on in the neighborhood.”
He added, “And we’ re doing our part to try to keep them safe, and then we have this tonight.”
Gov. Rick Scott released a statement in response to the shooting.
“Today, I join every Floridian to honor these law enforcement officers, their brothers and sisters in uniform, and their families, ” he said. “My heart breaks for Matthew’s family. May Matthew’s service and the service of our law enforcement community be a constant reminder of the sacrifice of those who serve to keep us safe.”
President Trump weighed in on Twitter early Saturday morning: “My thoughts and prayers are with the @KissimmeePolice and their loved ones. We are with you!”
The Kissimmee shooting was the first of two attacks on Florida police officers Friday night. Two sheriff’s officers in Jacksonville were wounded when responding to a suicide call, officials said.
The officers were shot around 11 p.m. on the city’s west side as they responded to a call about an attempted suicide, said Mike Bruno, director of the Jackson ville Sheriff’s Office. The officers’ names were not released; one was said to be in critical condition and one in stable condition.
When officers arrived at the scene of the reported suicide attempt, they were confronted by a man with a rifle, while three people hid in a back bedroom, Mr. Bruno said. In the ensuing gunfire, one of the officers was shot in the hands and one in the stomach.
The gunman was killed, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The three people hiding in the bedroom were not injured, Mr. Bruno said.
A police shooting was also reported Friday night in Fairchance, Pa., where two State Police troopers were shot in their car in a supermarket shopping center, according to ABC News and WXPI-TV in Pittsburgh .
The troopers, who were not identified, were in stable condition, with one airlifted to a hospital in Morgantown, W. Va., and a suspect was killed, WXPI reported.
