Manhunt grips Orlando as police search for suspect in officer's shooting death

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Orlando police reportedly were closing in Monday on an “armed and dangerous” murder suspect wanted in the shooting that killed a police officer outside a Walmart earlier in the day, sparking a manhunt that stretched for hours.

The suspect, identified as Markeith Loyd, was accused of murdering his pregnant ex-girlfriend last month, Fox 35 reported, adding that police had never caught him.
In a sign the manhunt was nearing an end, an Orlando SWAT team surrounded an apartment complex a couple miles northwest of the Walmart with rifles drawn, demanding Loyd step outside, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Police hiked their reward for information on his whereabouts to $60,000.
Earlier in the day, a traffic crash killed an Orange County deputy sheriff taking part in the manhunt, the sheriff announced.
“We’re going to bring this dirtbag to justice,” Orlando Police Chief John Mina told reporters. “There’s going to be someone who knows where he is.”
Loyd had been arrested 20 times in Orange County since 1994, according to court records.
Police said the officer killed was Master Sgt. Debra Clayton, a 17-year veteran of the force and mother of two, married for one year. Officials did not identify the deputy who died. At least 64 officers were killed in gun-related incidents in 2016, a jump of more than 50 percent from the previous year, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
Loyd was wearing a security uniform at the time of Monday’s shooting, a witness told WFTV.

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