TAMPA and FROSTPROOF, FL -- Two men are dead and a Polk sheriff's deputy is wounded following two officer-involved shootings overnight.
In Tampa, police say they responded to a report of a man firing shots from a gray Kia at a bar on East Busch Boulevard Thursday night. They tried to pull the car over at 40th Street and East 32nd Avenue. A passenger got out and fired several rounds at officers, striking a patrol car. Officers shot back and the driver took off, surrendering to officers moments later. The shooting suspect was pronounced dead at the scene. He's been identified as 42-year-old LaQuincy Dartez Ward.
TPD says the driver, 37-year-old Jeannette Lockard, is charged with seven counts of Accessory After the Fact to Attempted Murder, Tampering with Evidence Related to a Felony, and Felony Fleeing to Elude.
Detectives are investigating the run-up to the original gunfire on East Busch. They say the firearm in the car matched descriptions of the gun. FDLE is investigating the suspect shooting and officers involved are on paid leave.
Tampa Police Deputy Chief Calvin Johnson says officers involved did an "outstanding job," noting that the shooting fell on the anniversary of the deaths of officers David Curtis and Jeffrey Kocab, who were shot to death during a traffic stop involving a man wanted on a warrant from Jacksonville who later turned out to be involved in as many as three other murders, according to police.
Just south of Frostproof, a man died and a deputy was wounded in a shootout that followed a standoff that went into the early hours of Friday morning.
Polk Sheriff Grady Judd and Highlands County Sheriff Paul Blackman said that a woman called 911 in Highlands late Thursday night, saying a man was holding her hostage and forcing her to drive. That launched a pursuit that ended in an orange grove across the Polk County line in Frostproof. Deputies surrounded the car and began negotiating with 37-year-old Ramon Martinez. Judd says Martinez was high on meth and he was experiencing mood swings. They helped his driver escaped with a ruse about her getting out of the car to grab some water.
After a couple of hours of fruitless negotiations, the SWAT team arrived. Judd says they fired a chemical into the car and Martinez began shooting at deputies. One deputy on a probationary period with the SWAT team, Samuel Yates, was wounded by a bullet through the shoulder and from glass fragments in his patrol car. Deputies responded with gunfire of their own. "We shot Ramon Martinez a lot. We killed him graveyard dead," Judd said. " We gave him exactly what he asked for, after negotiating and trying to deescalate him for hours."
Yates is recovering at Lakeland Regional Hospital.
Photo: Tampa Police Dept.