The Latest: Missouri suspects led police on chase

Authorities investigate a crime scene Friday, Feb. 5, 2016, in Milton, Fla. The search for a Missouri couple suspected in a series of robberies and abductions across the South ended in a shootout in the Florida Panhandle early Friday that left the man dead and the woman wounded, authorities said. Blake Fitzgerald died and Brittany Nicole Harper was taken to a local hospital, according to a statement from the Escambia County Sheriff's Office. (AP Photo/Melissa Nelson-Gabriel) Authorities investigate a crime scene Friday, Feb. 5, 2016, in Milton, Fla. The search for a Missouri couple suspected in a series of robberies and abductions across the South ended in a shootout in the Florida Panhandle early Friday that left the man dead and the woman wounded, authorities said. Blake Fitzgerald died and Brittany Nicole Harper was taken to a local hospital, according to a statement from the Escambia County Sheriff's Office. (AP Photo/Melissa Nelson-Gabriel)

By Associated Press February 5, 2016 4 min read

MILTON, Fla. (AP) – The Latest on Missouri couple suspected in a multistate crime spree. All times local:

11:40 a.m.

Officials say a chase that led to a standoff with a couple suspected in a multistate crime spree started with a report of a robbery at a Famous Footwear store in Pensacola, Florida.

Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said at a Friday news conference that a call at 7:56 p.m. Thursday alerted authorities to the armed robbery. Officers spotted the couple near Pensacola Beach, before they headed east, eventually ending up on Interstate 10 before cutting back toward Pensacola. Morgan says the couple held a family hostage in their Pensacola home before fleeing in the family truck.

Morgan says deputies spotted Blake Fitzgerald and Brittany Nicole Harper in the truck, and they went into a neighborhood and had a 15-minute standoff with authorities. Morgan says officers engaged in gunfire with the couple as they tried to leave the truck and enter a home.