Sgt Jon
08-07-2008, 13:18
Federal agent dies after Fla. post office shooting
August 5, 2008
PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. (AP) — A federal agent was fatally shot outside a busy south Florida post office after a fight Tuesday, and dozens of police officers searched the area for the gunman, police said.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent died at Memorial Regional Hospital in suburban Fort Lauderdale less than three hours after the 9 a.m. shooting, police spokesman Sgt. Brian Davis said.
Donald Pettit, 52, was with his young daughter when he was shot, said Carlos Baixauli, a spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Pettit was shot once by a man during a possible fight in the post office parking lot, officials said. No one else was injured, and it wasn't clear whether the shooting was related to the agent's job. The suspect drove off in a car and police were combing the area for him.
"We're just going to saturate the area," Davis said.
A government helicopter hovered overhead and police officers appeared at every major intersection near the shooting scene.
Police later issued a sketch of the suspect based on witness descriptions: A white man, possibly Hispanic, between 50 and 60 years old. They said the man was about 6 feet tall, medium to heavy build, with gray and white bushy hair and "distinctive sagging cheeks."
The suspect's car was described as a metallic green Chrysler 300, possibly with tinted windows.
Investigators interviewed postal employees, customers and other potential witnesses while looking for any surveillance cameras that might have recorded the shooting.
The FBI also sent a team because the man was a federal agent, FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela said.
Several other law enforcement officers have been killed recently in South Florida, including last year's unsolved slaying of Broward County sheriff's Sgt. Chris Reyka. A rally is scheduled later this week to call attention to Reyka's case.
Update: 9/7/08
Man Charged with Murdering Federal Border Agent
A 65-year-old Florida man was arrested Wednesday and charged with the shooting death of a federal agent outside a South Florida post office.
The man, James Patrick Wonder of Miramar, was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon after a standoff outside a shopping complex in David, Fla.
Pembroke Pines police initially only identified the man as a "person of interest" in the Tuesday killing of border patrol agent Donald Pettit, 52, but they confirmed Wednesday night that Wonder was their suspect and had been charged with first-degree murder.
August 5, 2008
PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. (AP) — A federal agent was fatally shot outside a busy south Florida post office after a fight Tuesday, and dozens of police officers searched the area for the gunman, police said.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent died at Memorial Regional Hospital in suburban Fort Lauderdale less than three hours after the 9 a.m. shooting, police spokesman Sgt. Brian Davis said.
Donald Pettit, 52, was with his young daughter when he was shot, said Carlos Baixauli, a spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Pettit was shot once by a man during a possible fight in the post office parking lot, officials said. No one else was injured, and it wasn't clear whether the shooting was related to the agent's job. The suspect drove off in a car and police were combing the area for him.
"We're just going to saturate the area," Davis said.
A government helicopter hovered overhead and police officers appeared at every major intersection near the shooting scene.
Police later issued a sketch of the suspect based on witness descriptions: A white man, possibly Hispanic, between 50 and 60 years old. They said the man was about 6 feet tall, medium to heavy build, with gray and white bushy hair and "distinctive sagging cheeks."
The suspect's car was described as a metallic green Chrysler 300, possibly with tinted windows.
Investigators interviewed postal employees, customers and other potential witnesses while looking for any surveillance cameras that might have recorded the shooting.
The FBI also sent a team because the man was a federal agent, FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela said.
Several other law enforcement officers have been killed recently in South Florida, including last year's unsolved slaying of Broward County sheriff's Sgt. Chris Reyka. A rally is scheduled later this week to call attention to Reyka's case.
Update: 9/7/08
Man Charged with Murdering Federal Border Agent
A 65-year-old Florida man was arrested Wednesday and charged with the shooting death of a federal agent outside a South Florida post office.
The man, James Patrick Wonder of Miramar, was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon after a standoff outside a shopping complex in David, Fla.
Pembroke Pines police initially only identified the man as a "person of interest" in the Tuesday killing of border patrol agent Donald Pettit, 52, but they confirmed Wednesday night that Wonder was their suspect and had been charged with first-degree murder.