CRESTVIEW, Fla. — Two north Florida sheriff’s deputies were shot and killed Saturday by a suspect who was later fatally shot by deputies, authorities said.
The shooting occurred about 1 p.m. when the two Okaloosa County deputies went to Shoal River Sporting Clays and Shooting Center in response to a call, said Michele Nicholson, a sheriff’s spokeswoman.
Authorities say the suspect shot both deputies and took off toward neighboring Walton County, where he was shot and killed by sheriff’s deputies.
A man who answered the telephone at the shooting center near Crestview said he had no comment on the shooting.
Deputies Burt Lopez and Warren “Skip” York were pronounced dead after being airlifted to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, about 45 miles away, the sheriff’s office said.
A news release from the sheriff’s office identified their killer as Joshua Cartwright, 28, of Fort Walton Beach.
The sheriff’s office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which continue to investigate the incident, did not release other details about Cartwright or why the deputies were called to the shooting range.
Another Okaloosa County sheriff’s deputy was shot and killed in August after a standoff with a man who had barricaded himself inside a home.
