15th Anniversary of in-the-line of duty death of Okaloosa County Deputies Burt Lopez and Skip York

Okaloosa County, Fla.  — Today marks the 15th anniversary for two of seven  Okaloosa County Deputies killed in-the-line of duty.

On Saturday, April 25, 2009, shortly before 1pm in the afternoon, Deputy Sheriff Burton “Burt” Lopez, a six-year veteran of Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office and Deputy Sheriff Warren K. “Skip” York, a two-year veteran of the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, were both shot and killed in-the-line of duty while attempting to arrest a domestic violence suspect at a shooting range in Crestview.

The deputies were following up on a domestic assault report they had taken hours earlier and located the suspect at a gun club in Crestview. The suspect was in the parking lot standing next to his truck. Deputy Lopez and Deputy York approached the suspect, had a brief conversation with him, and then informed him he was going to be arrested. As the deputies moved to handcuff him, he became uncooperative and began to resist arrest. Deputy York deployed his Taser and hit the suspect. The suspect dropped to the ground during the five-second jolt of electricity. When the Taser cycle ended, the suspect immediately drew a concealed handgun and opened fire. Deputy Lopez was able to radio for assistance while he and Deputy York engaged the man in a gun battle.

During the exchange of gunfire, Deputy Lopez was mortally wounded. The suspect then climbed into his truck to escape. Deputy York pulled the passenger-side door open and jumped inside in an effort to pull the suspect from the vehicle but was shot and mortally wounded.

The suspect fled the scene and opened fire at deputies from the Walton County Sheriff’s Office during a vehicle pursuit. The suspect’s vehicle was rammed by Walton County deputies, causing it to flip over near the intersection of U.S. Highway 331 and U.S. 90 in DeFuniak Springs. The suspect exited the truck and opened fire at the deputies, who returned fire, killing him.

Deputy York and Deputy Lopez were airlifted to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola and succumbed to their injuries later in the day.

The Crestview Broadcasting Company intentionally left out the name of the suspect out of respect to our friends in Law Enforcement.