Orlando police officer shot to death; sheriff's deputy dies during manhunt

 Hundreds of law enforcement officers scoured Orlando on Monday for a man suspected of fatally shooting a police officer, searching door-to-door in apartment complexes and prompting the lock down of a dozen schools.

After the shooting outside a Walmart, the suspect fled in a vehicle, fired shots at a pursuing officer, abandoned his vehicle and carjacked another, police said in an account of the investigation.

The man ditched the second vehicle a little later and ran into an apartment complex, where the search was concentrated, Orlando Police Chief John Mina said.

Orlando tragedy: Two officers remembered

Later in the day, an Orange County sheriff's deputy searching for the suspect was killed when his motorcycle collided with another vehicle.

The officer shot to death was identified as Orlando police Master Sgt. Debra Clayton, 42, a 17-year department veteran who was married and the mother of a college-age son.

The suspect is Markeith Loyd, who is also wanted in the killing of a pregnant woman in December, Mina said. A reward of up to $60,000 is offered for information leading to Loyd's arrest.

"I'm confident we will find him," Mina said. "It doesn't matter where he is. We will track him down to the ends of the Earth to find him."

"To lose two law enforcement officers on this Law Enforcement Officer Appreciation Day is indeed a tragedy," Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said.

Brief foot chase

The chief said someone at the Walmart at North John Young Parkway and Princeton Street contacted Clayton and told her Loyd was in the area, Mina said. Clayton radioed at 7:17 a.m. to say she was trying to contact a murder suspect.

Mina said it appears Clayton briefly chased the suspect on foot. "As soon as she said stop he basically opened fire on her," the chief said. Clayton returned fire but investigators don't think she struck the gunman, Mina said.

 Two minutes after Clayton's last radio contact, police received a call of an officer shot. Officers performed CPR but could not revive Clayton.

After the vehicle chase, hundreds of law enforcement officers descended on the area. Schools were locked down and residents were urged to stay inside.

"If you don't have to be out, don't be out," Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs said. "We are all in this together."

The search for Loyd was focused on the area around an apartment complex.

Mina said officers searched "dozens of apartments and residences" and won't slow down because of darkness. Police helicopters hovered overhead.

"I believe there have been people out there helping him all along," Mina said. "If we find out about those people we will criminally charge them."

He said Loyd would be charged with first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer and attempted murder of the officer he fired at.

'He shot her down'

Witness James Herman said he saw the shooting outside the Walmart.

"I was walking down the sidewalk, right past the officer, and I heard her tell him to stop, or whatever, and he shot her. He shot her down," he said.

Herman said the man continued shooting behind him as he was running from the scene.

Herman also said the man wore a security shirt, but Mina said the suspect was not a security guard.

"That's not uncommon," he said. "We run into people in nightclubs that wear T-shirts that say FBI, police."

Sheriff's deputy killed

Authorities across Orange County scrambled to find Loyd. During the manhunt, a sheriff's deputy was killed in a crash, Demings said.

Cops' families: We worry every day 01:28

"Not only did we lose an Orlando police officer today, we lost an Orange County deputy sheriff as well who was traveling on his motorcycle," the sheriff said.

"A motorist turned in front of him. Based on eyewitness testimony, he had a green light, he was not traveling at any (high) rate of speed."

He was identified as Deputy First Class Norman Lewis, an 11-year veteran of the department.