http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/31/sherif ... index.html

Shootings kill sheriff's wife, deputy, 2 suspects
POSTED: 3:02 a.m. EST, January 31, 2007

MARIANNA, Florida (CNN) --In what authorities are calling a targeted killing, the wife of a Florida Panhandle sheriff, a deputy and two suspects died in an exchange of gunfire outside the sheriff's house Tuesday evening, an official with the State Attorney's Office said.

According to Joe Grammer, before any shots were fired, Mellie McDaniel, wife of Sheriff John McDaniel, called the sheriff's office, saying the suspects were behind her as she headed home.

A precise timeline of events was not available, but at least one deputy was dispatched to the scene and later died. Mellie McDaniel was shot and died en route to a hospital, according to Grammer.

Steve Meadows of the State Attorney's Office said two suspects were pronounced dead at Jackson Hospital in Marianna, Florida.

The sheriff was at the residence at the time of the shooting and was not injured, Meadows said, but would not discuss the sheriff's role in events.

Authorities do not think the incident was a random act.

"We believe that the sheriff's home was selected and targeted," Meadows said, without disclosing a possible motive.

More than 100 law enforcement officers searched the area around the sheriff's home as a precautionary measure, but Meadows said there's no reason to believe that there are other suspects.

"The community should not be concerned that this is some random case," he said.