By Caitlin Doornbos and Stephanie Allen
Orlando Sentinel
DELTONA, Fla. — A Volusia County Sheriff’s K-9 unit dog was killed during a shootout with a fleeing suspect, who remained on the loose this morning, officials say.
A SWAT team and helicopters searched overnight for the suspect who fled into a heavily wooded area near Vann Park in Deltona after the shooting, sheriff’s officials said. As of 7:30 a.m., he hadn’t been caught.
More than 100 deputies and law enforcement officers from surrounding agencies were in nearby neighborhoods and residents were asked to stay inside their homes. Sheriff Ben Johnson said told news crews this morning helicopters spotted the suspect carrying a gun.
The shooting happened about 7:15 p.m. while deputies were chasing a man thought to be a fugitive with a warrant out for his arrest, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Deputies went to a home on Wing Terrace in Deltona earlier Tuesday evening after getting a Crimeline tip that the fugitive, whose name hasn’t been released, was possibly staying there. Deputies were outside the home when they saw a man on a dirt bike “recklessly” drive by them.
A deputy tried to stop the man, but he fled and deputies didn’t follow. A short while later, deputies watched the man again drive by them and then disappear, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Deputies later made contact with the residents at the home and were following up on the Crimeline tip, when they heard someone jumping fences nearby. They started searching and found the dirt bike that they saw earlier abandoned. A Sheriff’s Office helicopter then spotted the suspect who was riding the bike fleeing into a “nearby wooded area,” spokesman Andrew Gant said.
The Sheriff’s Office set up a perimeter around the woods and sent out Forrest, one of the agency’s canines.
About 7:15 p.m., Forrest caught sight of the suspect and was chasing him down, when the man started shooting, Gant said.
Deputies fired back, but the fugitive got away. They then noticed Forrest had been hit.
It’s unclear if Forrest was hit by one of the suspect’s bullets or got caught in the crossfire.
“I don’t know if we’ll be able to say with certainty tonight which shot struck the dog,” Gant said Tuesday.
Forrest, who had been with the Sheriff’s Office for about a year, was taken to DeLand Animal Hospital, but died from his injuries, Gant said.
At the news conference this morning, Johnson said the suspect was seen moving through the heavily wooded area all night. The thick brush has made it difficult for deputies to find him, though.
The fugitive’s name or the nature of his alleged crime hasn’t been released.
Further details were not immediately available.