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Suspect in death of Illinois deputy arrested after standoff

A man suspected of fatally shooting a sheriff’s deputy and wounding a woman at an Illinois hotel was taken into custody Thursday after an hours-long stand...
floyd brown

ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) — A man suspected of fatally shooting a sheriff's deputy and wounding a woman at an Illinois hotel was taken into custody Thursday after an hours-long standoff that began when he crashed his vehicle along an interstate highway, authorities said.

Floyd E. Brown, 39, was arrested hours after the crash in central Illinois, State Trooper Sean Ramsey said. Police employed flash grenades to disable the suspect after trying for hours to negotiate with him to surrender, Ramsey said.

Brown was taken for treatment at a hospital for several injuries, the cause of which wasn't immediately known, Ramsey said.

He is accused of fatally shooting Deputy Jacob Keltner, 35, a 12 ½-year veteran of the McHenry County Sheriff's Department. Keltner was pronounced dead at the hospital several hours after he was shot, spokesman David Dezane said.

Police said a woman described as an acquaintance of Brown suffered non-life-threatening injuries after being hit with one of Brown's rounds.

Prosecutors in Winnebago County in central Illinois say they have issued a warrant with $5 million bond against Brown for attempted murder. Officials haven't said when charges against Brown will be upgraded.

The shootings happened Thursday morning at a Rockford hotel as a U.S. Marshal's Service fugitive task force tried to serve Brown with an arrest warrant. Brown fled the hotel and traveled about 170 miles (273.5 kilometers) south to Logan County, police said.

"He is still inside his vehicle off the interstate in a field in a rural area," Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Sam Thomas said. "Negotiation efforts are in process."

From 2009 to 2019, 73 officers were killed nationwide while attempting to serve warrants, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, a nonprofit group that keeps track of officer fatalities nationwide.

Earlier Thursday Rockford police Lt. Andre Brass said police believed Brown had a rifle and should be "considered armed and dangerous."

Police said Brown was wanted on warrants from multiple Illinois counties when the task force went to an Extended Stay America hotel in Rockford, a city about 80 miles (129 kilometers) northwest of Chicago. Brown is from the Springfield area, in central Illinois.

"We just want to end this incident peacefully with his surrender," Brass said. "We have prayers for the officer that was hit and we have prayers for the officers that are trying to locate the suspect."

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