Florida Deputy Shot Multiple Times, Suspect 'No Longer at Large'

A man suspected of shooting a Florida sheriff's deputy on Tuesday night has been killed, according to local media reports.

The Taylor County Sheriff's Office deputy was shot more than once during an encounter about six miles south of Salem, a Florida Highway Patrol spokesperson told WCJB.

The deputy, who has not been named, was airlifted to hospital with life-threatening injuries, the spokesperson added.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) issued a Florida Blue Alert for the suspect, Gregory Ryan Miedema, at around 11:30 p.m. local time.

The alert said Miedema, 33, was last seen on U.S. 19 near Deer Run Road, which is about 25 miles south of Perry. Members of the public were urged not to approach him.

The alert was canceled on Wednesday morning "because the suspect is no longer at large," a spokesperson told Newsweek. "Full details will be provided at a press conference planned for this afternoon," the spokesperson added.

According to local radio station WSKY-FM, Miedema was killed in a shootout with a homeowner in Steinhatchee on Wednesday morning.

A Florida Blue Alert is designed to notify the public of critical information when a law enforcement officer has been killed, seriously injured, or is missing while in the line of duty and the suspect, thought to pose an imminent threat to the public, remains at large.

The incident comes amid a spike in violent crime across the country that has included attacks on law enforcement officers.

Sixty-three officers have been shot in the U.S. so far in 2022, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Six of those have died.

Authorities said two sheriff's deputies were shot and injured in Texas last week by a suspect who was out on bond.

In that incident, the deputies had responded to a report of shots being fired inside a home in Katy. When the deputies arrived, a 43-year-old suspect shot at them and they returned fire.

Both deputies were taken to hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening after being struck in the leg. One deputy was also grazed by a bullet to the head and left ear. The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.

Earlier this month, two deputies were wounded in a shooting while responding to a neighborhood dispute in Bellingham, Washington.

The deputies had arrived on the scene on February 10 and attempted to speak with a man carrying a shotgun. However, both deputies were shot during the encounter. The suspect later surrendered and was taken into custody.

Update 2/23/22, 11:10 a.m. ET: This article and its headline were updated to reflect that the Blue Alert has been canceled and the suspect is no longer at large.