Orange County Sheriff’s deputies are mourning the loss of one their own, even as a massive man-hunt has been launched for the suspects involved in the deputy shooting.
A 27-year-old deputy was shot and killed around 8:30 pm on Wednesday night, following a routine traffic stop on Orange Blossom Trail.
Sheriff Jerry Demings speaking around 11:25 pm, said that it appears that there were two subjects in the vehicle, which was stopped by the deputy and one of them opened fire and shot the deputy in the head. The deputy, who was taken to the Orlando Regional Medical Center, subsequently died from his injuries.
Deputies who arrived on the scene were able to track down the suspects truck at a second location. At this location, one of the suspects involved in the deputy shooting killed himself from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Investigators believe that Brandon Lyals, who took his own life, shot the deputy. Deputies are searching for the second suspect.
Sheriff Demings speaking to reporters said that, “the Agency is sad tonight and there are a lot of tears, but while we may be weakened tonight, we are not broken.”
While Demings did not release the name of the deputy who was killed, he said that he had been with the Agency for 4.5 years and was married to another Deputy Sheriff for about one year.
Demings said that he was sorry that the shooting took place, adding that there are risks in the jobs that the men and women in law enforcement do each day to protect the community. “We have a lot of tears,” Demings said. “I am hurt, but we owe it to this community to do our jobs.”
Demings said that the law enforcement family stands behind the deputy’s widow.
Added Demings, “I hope and pray that we locate the person and that justice will be done.”
