Florida murder suspect who was sought in Alabama now dead in Pennsylvania police shooting

Florida murder suspect Steven Brooks, the subject of an Alabama manhunt, is dead in Pennsylvania.

Steven Brooks, the Florida murder suspect who was being sought in north Alabama, has been killed by police in Pennsylvania, authorities said.

Brooks, also known as Siddeeq Ma'Shooq, was wanted in Pinellas County, Florida for the shooting death of musician Caroline Morton-Hicks. In Alabama, Madison County law enforcement had been searching for 45-year-old Brooks since he escaped a standoff Wednesday night and led police on a chase.

On Friday morning, Madison County sheriff's Lt. Donny Shaw said Brooks died in an encounter with police in South Strabane, Pennsylvania. Shaw said Brooks was driving a truck that was reported stolen in north Alabama.

The encounter happened Thursday at 11:25 p.m. on a ramp at the north junction of Interstate 70, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newspaper reported. Police there had been chasing Brooks, the newspaper reported. South Strabane is a small township about 30 miles southwest of Pittsburgh. The township is more than 600 miles from Harvest, the Madison County community where Brooks encountered north Alabama law enforcement.

For north Alabama law enforcement, it started around 4:20 p.m. Wednesday when the U.S. Marshals fugitive apprehension team contacted Madison County SWAT deputies for help capturing Brooks at the Harvest home.

By 6:30 p.m., a standoff was underway and continued for hours, with hostage negotiators talking to Brooks by phone, said Madison County Lt. Donny Shaw.

Brooks went into the garage of the home around 9:30 p.m., got in a car and hit U.S. Marshals' vehicles as he fled the scene, Shaw said. Brooks led lawmen on a chase to the corner of Copeland and Love Branch roads in Limestone County. He jumped from the vehicle which caught fire in a field.

Since then, state, federal and local law enforcement had been searching woods, creek beds and other rural areas. A helicopter and K9 teams assisted. Some schools implemented extra safety precautions on Thursday. Students were allowed to go outside for recess.

In Florida, Brooks was accused of gunning down Caroline Morton-Hicks, a 59-year-old woman. The killing happened Feb. 12 at Pinellas Park. Pinellas County is near Tampa, more than 600 miles from Madison County, Alabama.Morton-Hicks was a musician, originally from England, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

Police told the newspaper she was leaving a rehearsal of the Pinellas Park Civic Orchestra when an altercation happened in the parking lot. The Times reported that she tried to run away but was chased by the shooter.

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