A man was killed while trying to break into a home Wednesday morning after shooting and wounding a deputy during a traffic stop the previous night, officials in Florida said.
Deputies found Gregory Miedema dead at a Dixie County home following a 10-hour manhunt, Florida Department of Law Enforcement special agent Mark Perez said during a news conference.
Miedema apparently broke into the resident’s home just over the Taylor County-Dixie County line and traded gunshots with the homeowner. Miedema was killed, and the homeowner suffered a wound to his shoulder.
The Blue Alert was issued after TCSO Deputy Troy Anderson was shot three times during a traffic stop on U.S. 19 South approximately six miles south of Salem around 10 p.m. Tuesday.
Anderson was flown to a Gainesville hospital where he’s being treated for gunshot wounds to his jaw, neck and hand, according to a family member.
The shooting triggered a massive manhunt Wednesday morning and a “Florida Blue Alert.”
Blue alerts are issued when a law enforcement officer is killed, seriously injured or missing in the line of duty.
Wednesday’s Blue Alert, which was pushed to phones across the state, said authorities were looking for Miedema, who was last seen in the area of U.S. 19 South and Deer Run Road near Perry, which is in the Big Bend area of the state.
According to the FDLE database, Miedema was a registered sexual offender.
There have only been four Blue Alerts since the start began the program. The most recent - involved Nassau County Deputy Joshua Moyers.
In late September, law enforcement launched a manhunt for Patrick McDowell.
Moyers was shot and killed during a traffic stop, when he was shot in the face and back. Moyers died at UF Health Jacksonville.
McDowell was captured four days later . with law enforcement officers from around the region joining the search. McDowell is charged with first-degree murder – and the state attorney plans to seek the death penalty if McDowell is convicted.