Police: Gunman fled Illinois hotel after shooting officer

ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) " Police said a gunman fled an Illinois hotel Thursday after shooting an officer who was part of a fugitive task force trying to serve an arrest warrant.

Rockford police Lt. Andre Brass said investigators believe the suspect, 39-year-old Floyd E. Brown, is still armed and fled the hotel in a vehicle. Authorities did not immediately know the condition of the officer who was shot.

"Mr. Brown is considered armed and dangerous," Brass said. "Please do not approach."

Brass said Brown was wanted on several warrants when the task force went to an Extended Stay America hotel in Rockford, about 80 miles (129 kilometers) northwest of Chicago.

Brass didn't know what specific crimes the warrants alleged but said Brown was from the Springfield area, in central Illinois.

Police believe Brown had left the Rockford area by early Thursday afternoon. Investigators said he fled in a light blue or silver Mercury Grand Marquis.

"We just want to end this incident peacefully with his surrender," Brass said. "We have prayers for the officer that was hit and we have prayers for the officers that are trying to locate the suspect."

The officer's name hasn't been released, but he was assigned to a Great Lakes regional fugitive task force, U.S. Marshals Service spokeswoman Belkis Cantor Sandoval said.

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This story has been updated to show police now say Brown is 39, not 45.

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