By DAVE NICHOLSON / The Tampa Tribune and
CHRIS CHMURA / Tampa Bay Online
LAKELAND - The suspect in the killing of one Polk County deputy sheriff and wounding of another died with his hand on a pistol - believed to be a .45-caliber snatched from the fallen officer.
The man, who went by at least four aliases, was killed this morning in thick brush, less than 100 yards from where he exchanged shots with a Lakeland police officer who joined in the search Thursday afternoon, Sheriff Grady Judd said. the suspect was shot numerous times by SWAT team members who found him hiding in a hollowed-out area under a fallen oak tree.
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When officers commanded him to show his hands, he only showed one hand and the officers opened fire, Judd said. After the shooting ended, officers found a pistol in the suspect’s hand believed to be that of slain K-9 Deputy Matt Williams.
“God will be the judge and jury this time,” Judd said.
He was wanted for opening fire on deputies after he bolted from a routine traffic stop about 11:45 a.m. Thursday, killing Williams and his German shepherd Diogi and wounding Deputy Douglas Speirs.
Spiers was shot in the leg and later released from the hospital. He is expected to make a full recovery, according to the sheriff’s office.
Judd said the suspected shooter was located this morning while law officers were combing a heavily wooded area shoulder-to-shoulder. The search, which commenced around noon Thursday, continued all night. It centered on a sparsely populated swath of 75 to 150 acres west of Lakeland.
During Thursday’s search, the suspect emerged from behind a house and fired shots at a Lakeland detective, who returned fire. The shots missed the officer.
It is unclear how the man was able to get the deputy’s gun.
Identifying the suspect proved to be difficult for investigators, as they uncovered several aliases. Judd says the man’s name could be Andrew Colxton, Alex Cloxton, or Anglo Freeland. The suspected shooter was initially identified as Eswardo O. Ramclaim, of Miami.
The man’s body, which remained at the scene late morning, will be taken to the medical examiner, and Judd says his office will conduct a thorough investigation.
Judd credited officers with reacting so quickly that they kept the suspect in the area, not giving him an avenue to escape.
Earlier, Judd said the man is likely involved in dealing drugs, but could not pinpoint a motive for Thursday’s shootings. He was initially stopped for speeding on Wabash Avenue near 10th Street and was unable to produce a driver’s license. He ran after asking Spiers, who stopped him, if he was going to jail.
Williams, 39, whose full name was Vernon Matthew Williams, had worked for the sheriff’s office since 1994 and is survived by his wife, Nancy, and three teenage children. Spiers, also 39, is married and has a 19-year-old stepson and 9-year-old son.
Williams is the first Polk sheriff’s deputy killed in the line of duty since Theron Anthony Burnham was slain in January 1981.
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