Central Florida police have confirmed the identities of two teens who reportedly killed a police officer, then committed suicide with one another.
Law enforcement officials in Windermere, Fla., found 18-year-old Brandon Goode and his English girlfriend, Alexandria Hollinghurst, 17, dead on Saturday, just one block away from the location where police officer Robert German was shot and killed.
Orange County officials believed the teenagers fired shots at the 31-year-old police officer after they'd been stopped for suspicious behavior at about 4 in the morning. It appears the couple then used the firearm to kill themselves.
The Orlando suburb's police Chief David Ogden lamented the police officer's death, calling it a "senseless tragedy."
"Officer German was a good cop," Ogden told the New York Daily News. "He was one of the finest police officers we've had."
Representatives from the Orange County Sheriff's Office have not yet disclosed why police stopped the two teens, who were walking in the Horizon Circle and Conroy Windermere Rd. area late Saturday. German reportedly called for backup, and when a deputy arrived, he found the officer shot and bleeding on the ground.
A public funeral will take place on Thursday, town officials told the New York Daily News. In the meantime, law enforcement officers are trying to parse out the details of this puzzling and devastating occurrence.
Not much is immediately known about Davenport residents Hollinghust and Goode, save reports of Goode's recent arrests. The Orlando Sentinel reported that Goode had been arrested for underage drinking and marijuana possession. He'd also been arrested in 2012 for domestic assault. Just two days prior to the shooting, Goode signed up for a diversion program to have his record wiped clean.
Hollinghurst, who was born in Manchester, England, graduated from high school one year early, the Daily News reported.
According to 21-year-old Grace Etchells, who knew Hollinghurst from their hometown, the teenager was a good kid.
"Alex was a genuinely nice girl," Etchells told the Sentinel. "Zero flaws."
Police found Goode and Hollinghurst's bodies in some underbrush about a block away from the fallen police officer. They'd both been shot.
