Florida sheriff’s deputy shot and killed in Tallahassee ambush

A Florida sheriff’s deputy was shot and killed Saturday morning while responding to a house fire in Tallahassee, and police believe the attack may have been a ambush.

Two members of the Leon County Sheriff’s Office arrived at the scene of the blaze around 10:15 a.m., when a man emerged and immediately opened fire. One deputy was killed instantly, and another was wounded, according to a statement released by the Sheriff’s Office.

The gunman, whose identity has not been released, picked up the slain deputy’s weapon and began walking away from the burning home, continually shooting at police officers and firefighters as they arrived at the scene.

Moments later, a group of Tallahassee police officers shot and killed the assailant.

The Sheriff’s Office did not identify the slain deputy or describe the extent of the surviving deputy’s injuries. It was unclear whether the gunman set fire to his own house and what led him to open fire on police.

The scene of the attack was just six miles north of Florida State University, where a school alumnus opened fire at the Stozier Library just after midnight Thursday, wounding three people before he was also killed in a clash with Tallahassee police.

“This week has been a very, very tough week for our community. We are blessed with law enforcement and first responders that answer their call of duty each and every day, keeping our community safe,” said Mary Ann Lindley, chairwoman of the Leon County Board of Commissioners, in a statement. “This morning, tragedy touched us again.”

The gunman in the campus shooting, Myron May, was a practicing attorney and former employee of a district attorney’s office in New Mexico who had been struggling with mental health issues and was suffering from a growing fear that he was under government surveillance in recent months, according to police reports made public Friday.

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