ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - The Latest on the fatal shooting of an Orlando police officer (all times local):
1:25 p.m.
The Orlando police sergeant who was gunned down in a Wal-Mart parking lot was one of the first responders to a mass shooting at a gay nightclub.
The Orlando Police Department on Tuesday confirmed that Master Sgt. Debra Clayton was one of the officers who responded to the shooting at Pulse in which 49 patrons were killed.
Last June’s massacre in Orlando was the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
Authorities say Clayton was gunned down Monday morning in a Wal-Mart parking lot after she approached a suspect who was wanted for questioning in the slaying last December of his pregnant girlfriend.
A manhunt for suspect Markeith Loyd was in its second day on Tuesday.
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12:30 p.m.
Orlando Police Chief John Mina says his agency is doing everything it can to catch a suspect wanted in the fatal shooting of a police sergeant.
Mina said Tuesday that teams of detectives are following all leads and hundreds of officers and deputies are searching for suspect Markeith Loyd.
Mina spoke in a video posted on the agency’s Twitter page.
Authorities say Master Sgt. Debra Clayton was gunned down Monday morning in a Wal-Mart parking lot after she approached Loyd, who was wanted for questioning in the murder of his pregnant girlfriend.
Officers focused the manhunt on an apartment complex Monday afternoon, but no searches appeared to be going on there Tuesday morning.
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11 a.m.
Shoppers are laying flowers, teddy bears and candles in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart store where an Orlando police sergeant was gunned down as she approached a suspect wanted for questioning in the murder of his pregnant ex-girlfriend.
More than two dozen bouquets were displayed Tuesday morning in the parking lot outside a Wal-Mart in northwest Orlando where Master Sgt. Debra Clayton was killed the day before.
Shoppers stopped by to take photos or say a prayer.
Shopper Hal Shore says in his opinion, Clayton’s death is a reminder that there is a “war” against police officers in the United States.
Law enforcement officers spent a second day searching for the suspect wanted in Clayton’s murder.
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9:20 a.m.
The patrol car of an Orlando police sergeant fatally shot outside a Wal-Mart store is being displayed in front of Orlando Police headquarters as scores of law enforcement officers spend a second day conducting a manhunt for the suspect in her shooting.
Master Sgt. Debra Clayton’s patrol SUV was parked Tuesday outside the agency’s headquarters in downtown Orlando.
The police department also started an online fund to raise money for her family.
The manhunt for suspect Markeith Loyd entered its second day Tuesday.
Clayton had approached Loyd outside the store after someone tipped her off that he was in the area. He was wanted for questioning in the murder of his pregnant ex-girlfriend.
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4:25 a.m.
Orlando’s law enforcement community is mourning the death of two officers amid the search for a suspect.
Authorities say Orlando Police Master Sgt. Debra Clayton was fatally shot Monday morning when she approached a fugitive wanted for questioning in the killing of his pregnant ex-girlfriend.
More than two hours later, Orange County Sheriff’s Office Deputy First Class Norman Lewis was killed when his motorcycle collided with a van as he was responding to a manhunt in search of the 41-year-old Markeith Loyd, the suspect in Clayton’s shooting.
Authorities say someone in a Wal-Mart store had tipped off the sergeant that Loyd was in the area. She was shot after she approached him outside the store.
Loyd fled the area and a manhunt involving hundreds of law enforcement officers was conducted around an apartment complex in northwest Orlando.
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