St. Petersburg Detective Shot, Suspect Killed

A St. Petersburg, FL, police detective was shot twice in the lower torso by a child abuse suspect, police say. The suspect was killed by other officers at the scene.

The suspect has been identified by authorities as Dominique Harris. In addition to being wanted on a child abuse warrant, he was also  a “person of interest” in a September homicide, Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualitieri says. Harris was known to be armed and to flee from police, the sheriff said at a Thursday news conference.

Authorities say the 20-year-old Harris tried to ram a car past a blockade of officers attempting to arrest him on the child abuse charge, then fired at an officer.

Police vehicles had boxed-in Harris’ vehicle when authorities say he aimed a semiautomatic handgun out of the driver’s side window and shot an officer at close range, the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Other officers then opened fire on Harris, in a scene captured on a  video posted to Facebook . (Warning: This video contains graphic language and gunfire. The footage is from a bystander's phone.)

The sheriff said six St. Petersburg police officers fired a total of 50 rounds during the incident. Harris was struck 38 times.

Harris fired “at least four times” at the wounded officer from what the sheriff has called “point-blank range.” The officer was shot twice in the mid-torso area and was pulled to safety by another officer during the gun battle. He underwent surgery and was reported to be in stable condition.