FORT MYERS, Fla. (CBS12) — A suspect is hospitalized after authorities said the suspect killed a city employee, fled a traffic stop and barricaded themselves inside a vehicle before video showed a shootout with law enforcement on I-75.
According to the St. Petersburg Police Department, officers responded to a reported shooting on 12th Avenue. Police said the victim was a 47-year-old woman who had worked as a St. Petersburg sanitation technician for 12 years.
Police said the woman was sitting inside her front-loader sanitation truck when she was shot and killed. She lives behind four children.
Investigators said the suspect and the victim knew each other, and the shooting was targeted.
See also: New Palm Beach Co. park signs thanking taxpayers raise questions before property tax vote
The suspect then fled the scene and drove south. The Florida Highway Patrol said troopers received a BOLO alert indicating the suspect was believed to be suicidal.
FHP said troopers located the suspect in Lee County and attempted to conduct a traffic stop, but the suspect fled. The pursuit ended after troopers performed a PIT maneuver near the southbound Exit 128 ramp at Alico Road on Interstate 75.
Authorities said the suspect refused commands and barricaded himself inside the vehicle.
Video shared with CBS affiliate WINK News shows law enforcement engaged in a shootout with the suspect. In another video gunshots can be heard while a viewer takes video of the scene.
State troopers and deputies with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office eventually took the suspect into custody. The suspect was hospitalized with serious injuries.
No law enforcement officers were injured.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the scene.