Florida city loses third police officer in 28 days to shootings

Authorities in St. Petersburg, Florida, shut down roads and some schools Tuesday as investigators searched for the man who shot and killed a police officer late Monday night.

Officer David S. Crawford, 46, is the third St. Petersburg officer killed in shootings in the last 28 days, according to police.

"It hurts. It stings. This killer has taken somebody very precious to us, a member of our family," Chief Chuck Harmon told reporters.

Crawford, a 25-year police veteran assigned to the patrol division, was summoned along with another officer to the home of a caller who said a man was in his backyard holding a broken brick.

Crawford drove around until he spotted the man, parked his car and approached the suspect, Harmon said.

Moments later, the second officer reported gunfire and told dispatchers that Crawford had been shot. Harmon said Crawford was shot multiple times at close range.

Crawford returned fire, but police have found no evidence suggesting he was able to wound his attacker, according to a statement early Tuesday by St. Petersburg police spokesman Bill Proffitt.

The statement said that "many police units" were conducting a search of the area and that several streets would remain closed until further notice.

He also said three schools would remain closed Tuesday, with school officials asking students to attend classes in different locations for the day.

"We have a killer on the loose that we're going to use every resource that we have to try and locate and apprehend," Harmon said.

Crawford, who is married and has a 24-year-old daughter, according to police, is the sixth law enforcement officer in Florida to die after being shot this year, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, a website that tracks law enforcement deaths. Three of those deaths have happened in St. Petersburg.

Two St. Petersburg officers died and a U.S. Marshal was wounded January 24 in a gunfight with a suspect who was hiding in an attic.

The officers had gone to a home to inquire about a man who was wanted by police. A relative told them he was upstairs and might be armed. As they approached, police say the man -- Hydra Lacy Jr. -- fired on the officers, striking one. Another officer died in the ensuing gunfight.

Police eventually used a backhoe to tear a hole in the house. They found Lacy, dead.

The spate of shootings has shaken the city and its police department, Mayor Bill Foster said.

"Well, I'm not going to lie, this city has been through hell," he said.