Two cops dead in Florida shootout; suspect’s body found inside home
Posted January 24, 2011 4:01 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
In St. Petersburg Florida, police said they have found the body of a suspect in the shooting deaths of two police officers, Monday.
Hydra Lacy Jr., 39, was holed up in the attic of a home after an intense firefight with authorities who tried to arrest him on an outstanding assault warrant.
“This thing unfolded, and as an officer you make those decisions on the fly,” Chuck Harmon, chief of the St. Petersburg police force said.
“Who expects to walk into a house and get gunfire from an attic? I mean you don’t typically — that’s not something you expect. We train, we prepare, we teach, we arm them, you do what you can. But as the mayor said […] the men and women who wear this uniform everyday are my heroes,” he added.
The fallen officers were identified as Officer Jeff Yaslowitz, 39, and Sgt. Thomas J. Baitinger, 48.
A third officer and deputy U.S. marshal were also shot, but remain in stable condition at the hospital.
Police said more than 100 rounds were fired during the shootout.
Officers said they eventually used a backhoe to tear apart the house in search of the suspect, and eventually located his body
