Dixie County Sheriff's Office, Florida
End of Watch: Thursday, January 14, 2010
Age: 33
Tour of Duty: 13 years
Badge Number: 54-6
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: January 14, 2010
Weapon Used: Handgun; 9 mm
Suspect Info: Deceased
Captain Chad Reed was shot and killed in a shootout with a man wanted for murdering two elderly women and shooting two other women in Hernando County.
Following the shootings and murders, the Hernando County Sheriff's Office put out an alert for the suspect and his vehicle. The vehicle was spotted in Dixie County and deputies began to follow it with the intention of stopping it in a rural area once it passed through town.
The driver of the vehicle suddenly pulled into a gas station and then opened fire on the deputies. Captain Reed and the suspect were both wounded during the shooting. Both men were transported to Shands Hospital, where Captain Reed succumbed to his wounds.
On February 10, 2011, the subject pled guilty of murder in the first degree in connection with Captain Reed's death and was sentenced to life in prison. In January 2012 the man was also convicted of two additional murders and subsequently sentenced to death. He died in 2015.
Captain Reed had served with the Dixie County Sheriff's Office for 13 years and was a graduate of the 238th session of the FBI National Academy. He is survived by his wife and two children.