The Missouri couple were wanted in connection to a string of crimes that occurred in multiple states.
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Authorities say officers engaged in gunfire with the couple in Florida.
The manhunt for Blake Fitzgerald and his girlfriend, Brittney Harper, came to a violent end in the Florida panhandle early Friday morning, almost five days after the pair allegedly kidnapped, stole, and robbed their way across the south.
About 15 minutes later, a family in nearby Vestavia Hills is eating breakfast when a man enters the home through an open garage door, saying he’s having vehicle trouble, police said. Officers spotted the couple near Pensacola Beach, before they headed east, eventually ending up on Interstate 10 before cutting back toward Pensacola.
Over the next few hours, Fitzgerald and Harper would run from authorities, at one point, holding a Penscola couple hostage at their home and stealing their truck.
Florida law enforcement officials said 30-year-old Blake Fitzgerald and 31-year-old Britney Harper were chased down by deputies and police and were shot when they got out of their truck. Deputies were able to corner the couple in a residential neighborhood.
“Let’s also remember Bonnie and Clyde were a couple of thugs, too”, he said.
As bullets spun through the air, Fitzgerald tried using Harper as a “human shield”, but was nevertheless shot and pronounced dead at the scene. State Attorney Bill Eddins says that Escambia County is “Gonna keep her”, and may not give her up for extradition to Missouri, Alabama or Georgia, but that is yet to be sorted out. “They then attempted to exit the vehicle and enter an occupied dwelling”.
On Saturday, Fitzgerald and Harper robbed and kidnapped a hotel clerk in Tuscaloosa, Ala., police said. She was freed about 10 miles away.
On Monday, a gunman held up a young clerk at a convenience story in Perry, Ga., and took money from the safe and cigarettes before forcing the clerk into an SUV where his female accomplice waited, authorities said. The couple drove about 15 miles before releasing the clerk unharmed, Perry police Lt. Ken Ezell said. Rector said the hotel clerk was still being held in the backseat during that robbery attempt but was later released unharmed.
Both were wanted on charges of kidnapping, burglary and theft.
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By mid-week, they are believed to have made it to Florida where investigators say they are connected to two robberies in Walnut Hills and Destin. “The U.S. marshals and law enforcement need the public’s assistance in locating this risky couple, so we can get them off the streets and put a stop to their armed robberies, kidnappings and other crimes”. Morgan says six are on administrative leave pending a standard investigation. Harper was wounded during the shooting but was not significantly injured. Harper was captured and is under armed guard in hospital facing charges of home invasion, robbery, false imprisonment and grand theft auto.
