Man kills deputy in Florida, dies in shootout

David Wray’s business is next to the law office where authorities say Okaloosa County Deputy Bill Myers was shot multiple times by 33-year-old Joel Dixon Smith.

Okaloosa County Sheriff Larry Ashley called Myers “a treasured part of this agency’s family since 1989” who had “served this community with distinction for decades”.

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Annie Allen later commented on the murder, noting that Smith’s decision to kill Deputy Myers was an especially risky one. He barricaded himself inside and deputies eventually fired tear gas into his room.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office says deputies responded Monday to a call about suspected drug activity at an Auburndale home.

The deputy was serving a domestic violence injunction on Smith and Smith was supposed to be turning over his guns when the deputy was shot.

Myers had served the papers, which prohibited Smith from having contact with his spouse, at the office of the suspect’s lawyer and had talked to the suspect about surrendering his firearms, the sheriff said.

Myers retired from full-time duty with the agency in November 2013, after nearly 25 years of service, but was re-hired on a part-time basis in January of this year to assist with Civil Process.

The Northwest Florida Daily News (http://bit.ly/1Yzv87R ) reports that the shooting took place outside the Cotton and Gates law firm in Shalimar, east of Pensacola.

Deputy Bill Myers, 64, was working in Shalimar when he was struck by multiple bullets, including in his head and back. “He’s a sick little coward”.

Smith had been arrested in 2008 for domestic battery, Ashley said, but had no other details. Allen said she and her boss were starting their day when six to eight gunshots rang out. “My wife, Ann, and I send our sincerest condolences to Deputy Myers” family and brothers and sisters in Florida’s law enforcement community”. “He was bleeding profusely”.

“I opened the door and they had their guns drawn”, he said. No other officers were injured in the encounter.