FORT PIERCE, Fla — A man wanted in connection with a homicide in Palm Beach County is dead following a standoff on I-95 in St. Lucie County that shut down major portions of the highway.
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The hours-long incident started Monday evening near West Palm Beach at about 10 p.m. when Palm Beach County deputies responded to a shooting at an apartment complex off Glenwood Drive.
Deputies found a woman, identified as Liliana Calderon Ramirez, 58, suffering from a gunshot wound. She later died from her injuries after being taken to the hospital.
Detectives began investigating the scene and learned the suspect entered the apartment through the back door and confronted Ramirez before shooting her multiple times and fleeing in a black SUV.
A "be on the lookout" alert was issued to surrounding agencies at about 11 p.m. Monday, saying the suspect was considered armed and dangerous.
The St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office (SLCSO) said at about 11:15 p.m., troopers performed a PIT maneuver on the suspect’s vehicle near the 130-mile marker of I-95 in Fort Pierce. After the vehicle was stopped, the suspect got out of the car with a firearm pointed at his head.
Over the next two hours, the SLCSO said their crisis negotiators and SWAT team tried to negotiate with the suspect as he repeatedly got in and out of the car with the firearm, as I-95 was shut down in both directions from Orange Avenue to Okeechobee Road.
During a press conference, St. Lucie County Sheriff Richard Del Toro described the suspect as agitated and difficult to deal with.
"Our negotiators just continually worked to de-escalate that, I can't stress that enough," Del Toro said. "That's what we're trained to do, that's what they were doing out there — trying to get this to a peaceful situation."
Del Toro said that the suspect told deputies there was an additional gun in the vehicle.
The sheriff said that the SWAT Team tried using less-lethal ammunition on the suspect, but this did not decrease the threat.
"He did drop the gun, but immediately picked it back up and pointed it at our deputies," Del Toro said. "They really had no other choice but to engage with the suspect."
At about 1:15 a.m., the sheriff's office said the suspect approached deputies with the gun, prompting deputies to open fire at the suspect. Despite receiving medical aid, he was pronounced dead shortly after.
Del Toro confirmed that four Florida Highway Patrol troopers and three St. Lucie County deputies shot at the suspect.
"As a law enforcement officer, we're trained that (a gun) could be pointed at you very quickly, and you have to make a split-second decision, which our deputies did," Del Toro said. "I'm very proud of them for doing that— that's what they're trained to do. We're going home at the end of the day, and I'm just thankful that we have the training that we do, the discipline that we do, and it could've been a much different outcome had we not done those things."
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the State Attorney's Office are investigating the incident.
The suspect's identity has not been released at this time. Investigators have not released the relationship between the suspect and the woman who was killed in Palm Beach County.
Both directions of I-95 are now reopened to traffic.
