TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Florida Blue Alert pushed out to phones across the state late Tuesday night has been canceled. The alert informed residents of a manhunt for 33-year-old Gregory Ryan Miedema.
On Wednesday, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement canceled the alert, but did not provide additional information on the cancelation.
FDLE, the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office and Dixie County Sheriff’s Office are scheduled to hold a press conference Wednesday to share further details about the shooting of a Taylor County sheriff’s deputy, information about the suspect and the cancellation of the Blue Alert.
The alert notifies the public when a law enforcement officer is killed, seriously hurt or missing and the suspect is still at large. It was first established by executive order of then Florida Gov. Rick Scott in 2011.
WTXL reported a deputy shot multiple times in Taylor County Tuesday night. The deputy, whose identity has not been released, suffered life-threatening injuries and was airlifted to a hospital.
Miedema was described as a white male with brown hair and brown eyes last seen wearing a dark-colored tank top. He is 5 feet 8 inches and 165 pounds.
Online jail records show Miedema is a registered sex offender in Florida. In 2011, he was sentenced to serve 78 months in prison after he was convicted of lewd or lascivious battery, intercourse with a victim 12 to 15 years old and possession of child pornography, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office.
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