Update from Tampabay.com

ST. PETERSBURG — Two St. Petersburg police officers were shot to death and a U.S. marshal was injured early Monday in gunfire that broke out as police tried to serve a domestic battery warrant at a St. Petersburg home.

"Our community has suffered a loss today," St. Petersburg police Chief Chuck Harmon said during a somber press conference with Mayor Bill Foster outside Bayfront Medical Center.

Suncoast Benevolent Association President Mark Marland confirmed the fallen officers as Tom Baitinger and Jeffrey Yaslowitz.

By Monday afternoon, police were able to enter the home where the shooting happened. They confirmed the shooter, Hydra Lacy Jr., was also dead.

The St. Petersburg officers became the first killed during service since 1980. Harmon said the wives of both were notified and "in shock." One of the officers had children.

A group of five St. Petersburg police officers stood around a cruiser outside Yaslowitz's home in northwest Hillsborough County. Some in uniform, some not, all looked grief stricken. Sgt. David Barr, who supervised Yaslowitz's unit and was in his police vehicle further down the road, said the officers needed time before speaking about their colleague, but called him "the best."

The officers were shot Monday morning after approaching a home where Lacy was being served a U.S. Marshal's warrant through a fugitive task force.

A marshal who responded to the scene also was shot and is expected to survive.

The shooting took place at 3734 28th Ave. S, in the Perry Bayview neighborhood. Authorities were serving the warrant for Lacy, a known sex offender, according to records.

Officers arrived at the home to interview Lacy's girlfriend at 7 a.m. When it became clear the suspect was in the attic and armed, more officers arrived and gunfire ensued.

An officer and marshal were hit first when they tried to arrest Lacy, Puetz said. Later, police attempted a rescue in which they pulled the marshal out and that's when one of the rescuers was fatally shot.

That officer was eventually taken from inside the house and transported to the hospital. He was accompanied by a surgeon.

"It doesn't look good," Harmon said shortly after the last officer was taken away.

At least six Florida police officers have been killed by gunmen since June — two in Tampa, two in Miami last week, and now two in St. Petersburg.

As Harmon told a group of reporters that the two officers shot dead were married, Foster looked down to the ground. He grimaced and closed his eyes tight as tears streamed down his cheek. He grabbed a tissue from his pocket, took off his glasses and wiped his face.

After the news conference, he told a reporter: "I'm not doing very well. Not very well at all."

At about noon, Foster went into another building at the hospital, saying he would talk more at the 4 p.m. news conference at the police station.

"I'm going to find a place to pray, he said.

Rumors began circulating through the community shortly after the first officers were taken to the hospital.

Early Monday, Pinellas Sheriff's Chief Deputy Robert Gualtieri made a dramatic statement at a previously scheduled meeting of the County Commission, saying, "The one St. Pete officer is dead, and the other one is pinned down in the house and was shot several times."

But at 10:10 a.m., police officials only said two were in critical condition and one was stable.

Police spokesman Mike Puetz said Lacy was facing aggravated battery and two other felony charges and was being served a U.S. Marshal's warrant by a police officer. An officer was interviewing the Lacy's girlfriend, who told the officer Lacy was in the attic. When Lacy was approached, he began firing at the officer, Puetz said.

A police SWAT team is at the scene, along with several police vehicles and ambulances wrapping around six blocks. Some Pinellas sheriff's deputies also are at the scene, as well as vehicles from other agencies, including a Tampa police armored vehicle.

Police cleared streets leading to Bayfront Medical Center in preparation for the ambulances to transport victims, according to dispatchers. They also asked that all helicopters stay away from the area, as Lacy made reference to them.

By 11 a.m. Monday, authorities lost contact with Lacy.

"We don't know if he's wounded or just lying in wait," Puetz said.

Around 1:30 p.m., authorities began demolition of some of the walls of Lacy's home.

At 2:15, a tactical team that entered the home confirmed a body found inside was Lacy.

Neighbors said they first heard shots coming from the home at 4 a.m. and later saw police lights at 7:15 a.m. Crowds of onlookers gathered in streets for several hours during the standoff.

Records show the house belongs to Christine Lacy, 45, and Hydra Lacy Jr. Records show he is 38 or 39.

State records list Hydra Lacy Jr. as a sex offender as of March 2004. He is listed as absconded as of June 30, 2010, meaning he is no longer residing at the address listed for him.

"We've been looking for him for awhile," said Pete Cajigal, Assistant Chief to the U.S. Marshal's office for the Middle District of Florida.

In 1992, he was sentenced in Pinellas County to 15 years for sexual battery with a weapon or force and five years for false imprisonment and aggravated child abuse of a victim younger than 13, according to state criminal records. He was released from state prison on March 4, 2001.

He first served time in prison from 1989 to 1991 on a five-year sentence for charges of battery on a law enforcement officer.

Hydra Lacy Jr. is the brother of Jeff Lacy, former International Boxing Federation super middleweight champion. He is the oldest of nine children.

Carol Jewell, Christine Lacy's sister, says the tragedy could have been avoided if officers had picked up Lacy in November, after he failed to show up in court on domestic violence charges.

Jewell said her sister told police that Lacy was at the 28th Avenue house, but they would not pick him up because they did not have a warrant.

Christine Lacy also told police that Lacy had been ordered to stay away from her, but they said they did not have the paperwork, Jewell said.

"After they left her, I took her to my house,'' Jewell said. "If they had arrested him in November when we called police, he never would have been a fuguitive.''

Court records show that a judge in the domestic violence case had ordered Lacy to stay away from his wife. Lacy failed to appear for a Nov. 1 trial and that the court sent an electronic warrant to the sheriff's office the next day.

St. Petersburg police spokesman Bill Proffitt declined comment.