“We pray for his soul and for his family and we ask that the community pray for them as well, and for all the men and women who have the courage in these troubled times to put their lives on the line for others”.
Advertisement
Okaloosa County Sheriff Larry Ashley said Deputy Bill Myers died after being shot multiple times in the back of the head and in the back by Joel Dixson Smith.
A woman identified as Shannon Murphy, 19, accompanied by Timothy Wagner, 24, both from Marion, VA, was at the wheel when two deputies approached the vehicle, sheriff’s spokesman Gary Davidson said.
After an hour and a half of negotiations, Smith emerged from the room with a weapon, police said, before deputies shot him. He had briefly barricaded himself at the Comfort Suites in Niceville, which is near the attorney’s office in Shalimar where officials say he shot the deputy. The woman was shot in the shoulder and airlifted to Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach. “Neither deputy was injured in the shooting”. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Kretzer and Sweeley were placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure in shootings.
It was revealed through the course of the investigation that the truck had been reported stolen from the Florida Panhandle.
“When someone shoots a law officer, they have nothing to lose”, she said.
Advertisement
Kretzer is a 13-year veteran of the sheriff’s office and Sweeley has worked there for nearly four years. She is cooperating with investigators, and charges against her are pending, Davidson said. An autopsy on Wagner will be performed by the Medical Examiner’s Office Tuesday morning, Davidson said. Sweeley, 35, was hired in November 2011.
