Orlando police officer shooting: reward raised to $100,000

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) –  Authorities have increased the reward to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest of a suspect in the slaying of an Orlando police sergeant.

Orlando Police Chief John Mina announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the reward is being raised from $60,000 to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest of 41-year-old Markeith Loyd.

Authorities also said that arrests warrants are being prepared for people who may have helped Loyd elude deputies who have sought to question him in the murder of his pregnant ex-girlfriend.

Master Sgt. Debra Clayton was killed Monday after she approached Loyd in a store parking lot.

The manhunt for Loyd entered a second day on Tuesday.

Authorities say they have received over 300 tips from the public.

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2:30 p.m.

The suspect who is the focus of a manhunt for the slaying of an Orlando police sergeant has a criminal record going back two decades.

Court records show 41-year-old Markeith Loyd was arrested in 1996 on a murder charge that was later dropped.

Loyd was arrested for battery on an officer in 1998 and sentenced to more than four years in prison.

While in prison he was detained on federal drug charges, pleaded guilty to cocaine possession and was transferred to federal prison. Records show Loyd was released in July 2014.

Now Loyd is wanted for the fatal shooting of Master Sgt. Debra Clayton Monday morning, who approached him in a Wal-Mart parking lot for questioning in the murder of a pregnant ex-girlfriend.

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1:25 p.m.

The Orlando police sergeant who was gunned down in a Wal-Mart parking lot was one of the first responders to a mass shooting at a gay nightclub.

The Orlando Police Department on Tuesday confirmed that Master Sgt. Debra Clayton was one of the officers who responded to the shooting at Pulse in which 49 patrons were killed.

Last June’s massacre in Orlando was the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

Authorities say Clayton was gunned down Monday morning in a Wal-Mart parking lot after she approached a suspect who was wanted for questioning in the slaying last December of his pregnant girlfriend.

A manhunt for suspect Markeith Loyd was in its second day on Tuesday.