SUSPECT IN SHOOTING OF 2 POLK COUNTY DEPUTIES IDENTIFIED AS MIAMI DRUG
DEALER

LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) _ More than 500 police officers used night-vision
scopes and tracking dogs early Friday to search through thick woods
and rural neighborhoods for a man who shot two sheriff's deputies,
killing one of them.

Deputy Vernon Matthew Williams was killed in a burst of gunfire
Thursday as he pursued the suspect, who had fled from a traffic stop,
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said. The gunman remained on the loose Friday.

"We can literally walk by him, close enough to touch him and not see
him" because the woods are so dense, Judd said.

Judd again showed a photo of the suspect at a news conference. He
said the man was from Miami and officials were confident he was
involved in drug dealing because they had talked to several of his
associates. But they hadn't determined his real name, because he used
several aliases.

But the gunman's face was identified by Deputy Douglas Speirs, who
made the initial traffic stop and was shot in the leg moments after
Williams was killed. Williams, 39, probably died instantly, Judd said.

"He was shot multiple times. I don't believe he felt a thing," he said.

Speirs, also 39, was treated for a gunshot wound to the leg and
released Thursday evening, Judd said.

Speirs had stopped the gunman for speeding in north Lakeland near
Interstate 4 shortly before noon and became suspicious of the man's
identification. The gunman got nervous and bolted into the woods, Judd said.

Speirs pursued him and called for backup. Williams arrived and they
began working their way into the woods, Judd said.

As the officers tracked him, there was a "burst of gunfire" that is
believed to have killed Williams and his police dog, Diogi, Judd said.

Speirs returned fire and was shot.

The suspect later exchanged gunfire with a Lakeland police detective
who was at a home warning residents to stay inside. No one was hit.

"We won't rest," Judd said of the manhunt. "We are prepared for a
gunfight if he wants a gunfight. Or we're prepared to take him in
peaceably if he has any sense at all."

A $40,000 reward was being offered for information leading to the
gunman's arrest.

Officers arrived en masse from counties across the state to assist in
the manhunt. Some officers drove for several hours to get to the
scene in central Florida, about 35 miles east of Tampa.

Judd said 10,000 to 15,000 people live in the area cordoned off for
the manhunt. Officers went house to house Thursday in some areas
asking people to lock themselves inside. Three schools were locked
down for several hours. Two of them were closed Friday so officers
could continue to search the area.

Williams had been with the sheriff's office since April 1994. He had
a wife, who turned 40 on Thursday, and three children.