TWO COPS, MARSHAL GUNNED DOWN IN ST. PETE'S

Baitinger

Yaslowitz

More heartache in Florida. A wanted  triggerman shot and killed two St. Petersburg cops in what law enforcement officials are calling a cold-blooded execution. A deputy U.S. Marshal was also wounded in the Monday morning massacre. The alleged killer--Hydra Lacy Jr., 39--was found dead in his home after cops used a backhoe to rip through the house.

"This crook, this criminal, this cop-killer ... did a terrible injustice to two of my people," said Harmon. "I feel a lot of anger, I feel remorse for the families. ... It's a sobering reminder of what our officers face all the time."

MORE ON THE LATEST POLICE TRAGEDY AFTER THE JUMP.

Bad dude

The murders come hot on the heels of a wild shootout in Miami last week that left two detectives and a murder suspect dead. So far, January has been deadly for law enforcement with cops being murdered in Detroit, Miami, Ohio, New Jersey, Toronto, Oregon and now St. Pete's. 

ONE REPORT SAID: The three law enforcement officers are among at least 11 shot nationwide in a 24-hour period. Four officers were shot and wounded at a Detroit police precinct on Sunday. Two Kitsap County, Washington, sheriff's deputies were shot and wounded at a Walmart in the town of Port Orchard. And officers in two locations -- Indianapolis, Indiana; and Lincoln City, Oregon -- were critically injured Sunday after being shot during traffic stops.

ACCORDING TO CNN:

The incident began around 7 a.m. Monday, when law enforcement from the city's police department, U.S. Marshals Service and Pinellas County Sheriff's Department went to a home in the west Florida city to ask a relative of Hydra Lacy Jr., who was wanted by police, about him.

        The woman told them that Lacy was upstairs in the attic and might be armed, according to Harmon.

K-9 Officer Jeffrey Yaslowitz and a deputy U.S. marshal were shot at as they got near the attic -- where they intended to try to coax the suspect to surrender -- according to police. A gunfight ensued, during which another member of St. Petersburg's police force, Sgt. Tom Baitinger, was shot from above.

While this was going on, a police search team entered the house and pulled out Yaslowitz, who was wounded but alive. "I heard 150 to 200 gunshots during that exchange," said Harmon. "You cringe, because you hope you don't send an officer (and) there's another death."

Both Yaslowitz and Baitinger were taken to local hospitals, where they were pronounced dead.
Lacy, was never the president of the chess club in high, school and had "a significant criminal history." HIS CRIME CV INCLUDED: kidnapping, sexual assault and aggravated assault on a police officer.

"He was somebody we wanted to get off the street," Harmon said earlier Monday. "And obviously, today you see why."

Baitinger, who was married, was a former detective who joined the St. Petersburg force nearly 15 years ago. Yaslowitz was a nearly 12-year veteran of the department and is survived by three children, ages 5, 8 and 12, and his wife.
"They served the people of this community with distinction, with passion, with resilience, with heroism," said Mayor Bill Foster. "And they gave their lives today, so we can do what we can do."
FOR MORE ON THE TRAGEDY: WHO IS HYDRA LACY?