ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (AP) -- Gunmen stole two cars, killed a bystander and injured a police officer in a crime spree that ended early Friday when the wounded officer rammed his car into their vehicle, authorities said.
Four men were charged in the St. Petersburg shootings, police spokesman George Kajtsa said.
Gunshots hit cars and houses during the spree, which began Thursday night, possibly as retaliation for a fatal shooting earlier in the week, police said.
Cynthia L. Bethune, 41, was killed as gunmen shot at another car, Kajtsa said. Her mother, Ruby Walker, said her daughter had been walking to the store.
St. Petersburg patrol Officer Timothy Virden chased the gunmen in the Chevy Impala. The men shot at Virden, who had a probationary officer with him.
“As Virden describes it, they’re driving and he says, like a scene in the movies, they open their door and were hanging on the door and firing at the cruiser,” said Bill Doniel, police spokesman.
Virden, 47, was grazed on the head by bullet. It left a gash requiring eight stitches.
Virden was still able to stop the fleeing Chevy Impala at 18th Avenue S and Fourth Street, ramming its rear with his squad car.
Virden, an officer for nearly two years, was treated at Bayfront Medical Center and is expected to recover.
“I would have to describe those actions as heroic,” Mayor Rick Baker said of Virden.
The suspects -- Deontae Maurice Thomas, 21, Alton Hall, 22, James Gilley, 24, and Dorian Watson, 29 -- were captured after Virden rammed their car on a city street, Kajtsa said. Hall was hospitalized for injuries suffered when the car flipped.
Thomas, Hall and Gilley were charged with second-degree murder and attempted murder of a police officer, Kajtsa said. Watson was charged only with felony possession of a firearm.
No bond had been set Friday, and the suspects did not yet have attorneys.