Police officer killed during shootout in Florida

Miami, Dec 21 (EFE).- A police officer died on the weekend during a shootout in the town of Tarpon Springs, 20 miles north of Tampa, Florida, according to local authorities on Sunday.

According to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Department, the incident occurred about 3 a.m. on Grande Boulevard in the central Florida community.

As a result of the shooting, local police are holding the man suspected of firing the fatal shot, although they have not released his name.

According to reporting by local television station WTSP, the shooting erupted when the officer responded to a report of someone being beaten up, apparently by the suspect.

When police arrived at the scene, the suspect opened fire, killing the officer, and then tried to flee, but other officers apprehended and arrested him.

Local authorities have not yet released further details about the incident.

The killing comes a day after New York City police officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu were murdered in cold blood while sitting inside their patrol car by Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who later killed himself at a local subway station.

According to New York police, the attacker hours earlier had announced his intention to shoot police officers, evidently in response to the recent killings of several African Americans by U.S. law enforcement officers in unrelated incidents.