Washington, August 20 (IANS): One police officer was killed and 5 others wounded in three separate shootings in US states of Florida and Pennsylvania, authorities said.
The police officer, who was fatally shot, was responding to a suspicious activity call with a colleague before being caught in gunfire on Friday night in Kissimmee, a city in Virginia, Xinhua news agency reported.
The shooting may have been an ambush, and the pair of police officers did not have an opportunity to return fire, Kissimmee Police Chief Jeff O’Dell told a press conference early on Saturday.
“Officers immediately responded to the area and found two of their fallen brothers gravely injured on the roadway,” O’Dell said. One of them was later pronounced dead, while the other remains hospitalized. O’Dell said they were not wearing body cameras at the time of the shooting. In Jacksonville, two officers were also injured on Friday when they encountered a man armed with a high-powered rifle and exchanged gunfire, according to the sheriff’s office of the Florida city.
The office said one officer was struck in both hands, while the other was hit in his stomach. The suspect, also wounded by gunshot, died after being taken to a local hospital.
A spokeswoman with Pennsylvania State Police said two state troopers were shot and a suspect killed outside a small-town store south of Pittsburgh on Friday night.
Local reports said one of the injured troopers was air-lifted to hospital and the other was taken to hospital via ambulance. The spokeswoman said both of them were stable and alert.
