Aug 6, 2008 4:19 am US/Eastern
Reward For Killer Of Federal Agent Hits $175 K
200 federal and local agents and local police gathered in the parking lot of the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol's office on Pines Blvd.
PEMBROKE PINES (CBS4) ―
The reward for information leading to the arrest of the person who killed a federal agent Tuesday outside of a Pembroke Pines post office hit $175-thousand.
Officers gathered Tuesday night to promise they would not give up efforts to find the man, distributing a sketch and revealing information about a car caught on surveillance cameras at a nearby Walmart.
The cameras show a car matching the description fo one use in the shooting traveling past the store at a high rate of speed at about the time the killer would have been fleeing the area.
Police said at a late evening news conference they have been getting many leads, and have other video they are examining for possible clues as to the identity of the killer.
Police and federal agents are arriving armed, ready to track down the man who killed on of their own. Officers are searching all across South Florida, from Miami-Dade County up into Broward and Palm Beach Counties.
Agents onboard a Black Hawk chopper have taken to the skies to search by air, while police patrol the street, pulling over silver Chrysler 300s similar to the suspect's car.
The person they're looking for is a white male between 45- and 55-years-old. He has white bushy hair and saggy cheeks. When last seen, he was wearing a green plaid shirt.
The man is suspected of shooting and killing a federal special agent, identified as Donald Pettit, 52, killed in the parking lot of a U.S. post office in Pembroke Pines Tuesday morning.
Witnesses said the suspect pulled his car up right behind the victim's – then took off seconds after the shooting. The victim's teenage daughter was reportedly in her father's car when he was shot. The agent was reportedly off-duty.
The agent, who Pembroke Pines police on the scene have said was involved in a multi-agency drug task force, died about 3 hours after being rushed to Memorial Regional Hospital.
Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call Broward Crime Stoppers at at
954-493-TIPS, Pembroke Pines police,
954-431-2200, or online:
www.browardcrimestoppers.org.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald contributed material for this report)
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