KISSIMMEE, Fla. — A police officer in Florida died from his injuries Saturday, a day after his colleague was killed when a suspect fired at them during a scuffle while they were on patrol. The suspect was later arrested at a bar.
Sgt. Sam Howard died Saturday afternoon at a hospital where he had been taken following Friday night’s attack in Kissimmee, Fla., south of Orlando.
Officer Matthew Baxter died Friday night, a short time after authorities said he was shot by 45-year-old Everett Miller.
Miller faces a charge of first-degree murder for the killing of Baxter. Authorities hadn’t yet said what charges he could face for Howard’s death.
During a patrol late Friday of a neighborhood with a history of drug activity, Baxter was “checking out” three people, including Miller, when the officer got into a scuffle with Miller. Howard, his sergeant, responded as backup, Kissimmee Police Chief Jeff O’Dell said.
The officers didn’t have an opportunity to return fire. They weren’t wearing body cameras.
Sheriff’s deputies with a neighboring law enforcement agency later tracked Miller down to a bar and approached him. Miller started reaching toward his waistband when the deputies tackled and subdued him, O’Dell said. They found a handgun and revolver on him.
The police chief said Miller was taken to jail wearing Baxter’s handcuffs.
“They were extremely brave and heroic actions taken by the deputies,” O’Dell said.
Authorities originally said they believed there were four suspects, but the chief said Saturday that no other arrests are anticipated.
Miller, 45, was a Marine veteran and was recently involuntarily committed for a mental evaluation by the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office. The early stages of the investigation shows that Miller had made threats to law enforcement on Facebook, O’Dell said.
Baxter, 27, had been with the Kissimmee Police Department for three years. He was married to another Kissimmee police officer and they have four children.
Howard, 36, has served with the police department for 10 years. He and his wife have one child, O’Dell said.
“They are two wonderful men, family men,” O’Dell said. “They are two committed to doing it the right way.”
Separately, two other officers were injured Friday in Jacksonville, Fla., after police responded to reports of an attempted suicide at a home where the mother of the man’s child, their toddler, the woman’s mother and a friend were thought to be in danger. One officer was shot in both hands and the other was shot in the stomach.
Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams said Saturday that the officers are in stable condition after Friday’s confrontation with an armed Derrick Brabham, who was killed by the officers.
