A shocking video shows the moment emergency workers in Florida had to hide from gunfire between a suspect and police.
County Sheriff Tommy Ford said at a news conference in Panama City that sporadic bursts of heavy gunfire had pinned several officers down at times as suspected assailant, Kevin Robert Holroyd, 49, fired from an elevated position with a rifle.
In the video, those gunshots can be heard nearby as members from the Panama City Fire Department and other first responders hide behind vehicles in a parking lot.
A terrified woman filmed the video of the shootout from her apartment.
A shocking video shows the moment emergency workers in Florida had to hide from gunfire between a suspect and police
In a video, those gunshots can be heard nearby as members from the Panama City Fire Department and other first responders hide behind vehicles in a parking lot. A terrified woman filmed the video of the shootout from her apartment
At one point, an officer is seen running through the woman’s apartment as several law enforcement agents surrounded the building.
On Tuesday afternoon, authorities responded to the Briarwood Apartment complex after receiving a 911 call about a gas smell in the area.
Bay County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Ruth Corley said deputies tried to knock down the door to the apartment, but the suspect had holed up inside.
Authorities said suspected assailant, Kevin Robert Holroyd (pictured), 49, fired at officers from an elevated position with a rifle
Authorities said Holroyd then exchanged gunfire with law enforcement officers.
Holroyd fired multiple rounds at officers from a second-floor apartment before he was found dead inside, Ford said.
No law enforcement agents were shot or wounded but one person leaving her apartment was injured and in stable condition, Ford said.
‘We were just blessed that we didn’t lose multiple officers and citizens today,’ Ford said.
Ford said police officers eventually used an armored vehicle to get to the apartment.
Around 2.30pm, he said, officers ignited a flash grenade and drove the armored vehicle to break into Holroyd’s apartment, and used a robot to search the residence.
He said officers found the man dead upon entering the apartment.
Earlier, the Walton County sheriff’s department said on Twitter that the standoff in Panama City was connected with the suspicious death earlier in the day of 30-year-old Clinton Street in Santa Rosa Beach.
Holroyd fired multiple rounds at officers from a second-floor apartment before he was found dead inside. No law enforcement agents were shot or wounded but one person leaving her apartment was injured and in stable condition
Around 2.30pm, he said, officers ignited a flash grenade and drove the armored vehicle (pictured) to break into Holroyd’s apartment, and used a robot to search the residence
Officers found Holroyd dead upon entering the apartment. The sheriff wouldn’t say whether Holroyd, killed himself during the barrage of bullets or if he was struck by an officer’s bullet
That community is about 40 miles west of Panama City along the north Florida coast.
He described the dangerous situation that unfolded Tuesday in the tourist community as a ‘nightmare scenario for us’.
The sheriff wouldn’t say whether Holroyd, killed himself during the barrage of bullets or if he was struck by an officer’s bullet, but he said officers did hear a final, muffled shot from inside the apartment before the scene went silent.
He also said Holroyd doused the apartment in gasoline and tried to set it on fire.
Broadcasters showed televised footage of armed officers kneeling behind police cars and other positions around the building as gunfire continued sporadically and sirens blared.
‘These units were taking numerous rounds of fire from the subject,’ the sheriff said.
Earlier, the Walton County sheriff’s department said on Twitter that the standoff in Panama City was connected with the death earlier in the day of 30-year-old Clinton Street in Santa Rosa Beach. Authorities investigate the crime scene at Santa Rosa Beach
Street was found dead in his home (pictured), in what authorities are calling a suspicious death
Witnesses heard rounds of gunfire between noon and 12.30pm.
The injured person was taken to a hospital, and while her identity was unclear, authorities said it was a civilian.
Nearby businesses and schools had to be evacuated and several police agencies responded to the scene.
Kim Allagood, owner of a nearby pizza restaurant, said ‘tons and tons’ of police descended on the area and she locked down her restaurant for close to two hours amid sporadic shooting.
Florida Gov Rick Scott talked to Ford about the situation in Panama City.
John Tupps, a spokesman for Scott, said the main point of the call was to offer state law enforcement assistance.