Police surrounded an apartment building in northern Florida and exchanged heavy gunfire with a suspect barricaded inside.
Bay County Sheriff Tommy Ford said the suspect in the lengthy standoff and shootout with police at an apartment in the Florida Panhandle has been found dead.
Police officers used an armoured vehicle to break into the apartment in Panama City and a robot then searched the residence, confirming the man was dead.
The sheriff said the standoff lasted for hours as responding police exchanged gunfire with an assailant shooting from an elevated position with a rifle.
Ford said several officers were pinned down by the gunfire for long periods of time.