PERRY -- Detectives say a homeowner shot down a man suspected of shooting and severely wounding a Taylor County deputy.
FDLE says that the suspect, 33-year-old Gregory Miedema, broke into a home near the Taylor-Dixie County line and was killed during an exchange of gunfire with the homeowner. The state agency is not confirming reports that Miedema was killed in the gunfire.
Tuesday evening, FDLE says, Miedema shot Taylor County deputy Troy Anderson in a rural area of Taylor County, about six miles south of Salem. The state sent out a blue alert all the way to south Florida, because Miedema was most recently a resident of Lee County. Taylor County Sheriff Wayne Padgett asked for prayers for Anderson, who is hospitalized in stable condition and undergoing reconstructive surgery on his face.
Miedema was convicted of raping a victim between 12 and 15 years old while serving in the Army, according to the Sheriff's Office in Sarasota County where he used to live. He was sentenced to six and a half years in federal prison followed by two months probation. He was not allowed to live within 1,000 feet of a school, daycare facility, park or playground.
FDLE is investigating both the homeowner incident and the shooting of Deputy Anderson.
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