A 21-year-old suspect in a mass drive-by shooting that wounded 11 men in Florida last month was killed by a police officer on Monday after a chase and a carjacking, authorities said.
Investigators were conducting surveillance on the suspect, identified as Alex Greene, whom detectives wanted to take in on an outstanding burglary warrant to talk to him about what they’ve called a “targeted attack” near Iowa Avenue North and Plum Street in Lakeland on Jan. 30.
“We are very confident he was in fact involved; to what extent we don’t know yet,” Lakeland Police Chief Sammy Taylor said.
However, Greene got into a pickup truck and started to drive away during the surveillance, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said during a news conference.
Police say several people were shot and wounded during a drive-by shooting in a central Florida neighborhood on Jan. 30. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara, File)
Lakeland police went in pursuit along a heavily traveled road until an officer in an unmarked car performed a pit maneuver and stopped the pickup.
Greene ran through the busy traffic to evade capture, and the officer, identified as police Capt. Eric Harper, ran in pursuit.
When Greene realized he couldn’t get away, he ran toward a restaurant where a woman was standing outside her car with the doors open, Judd said. The woman saw Greene and tried to close the doors but pushed her aside and jumped into the car.
Eleven people were shot in a drive-by shooting in Lakeland, Florida on Jan. 30, authorities said. (FOX13 Tampa WTVT, File)
Harper approached the vehicle with his gun drawn but Greene refused to stop.
“The suspect takes off in her car, drives toward Capt. Harper, who shoots six times,” Judd said. “The car continues down a road, weaves through flower beds and crashes into a building.”
Law enforcement officials pulled Greene from the car and started performing CPR. He was taken to a hospital, where he was declared dead. No other injuries were reported during the pursuit.
Greene had 10 previous felony charges, including fleeing to elude law enforcement, battery on a law enforcement officer, possession of weapons and resisting arrest, Judd said. He had an outstanding warrant for burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary.
Lakeland Police Chief Sam Taylor holds up a photo of the suspect’s car that was involved in a shooting on Jan. 31 in Lakeland, Fla. Police said at least two of the suspected four occupants are believed to have opened fire. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara, File)
Officials previously said they believed four people were in the suspected vehicle used in the drive-by shooting. No details were immediately provided about any other suspects in the shooting.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
