MELBOURNE, Fla. -- Law enforcement officials have identified the deputy who was shot and killed by a fleeing suspect on Tuesday.
Deputy Barbara Pill, 53, was shot in the face and killed after responding to a call about property theft at about 11 a.m. at the EconoLodge off U.S. Route 192, according to officers.
Officers said Brandon Lee Bradley, 22, is accused of killing Pill and has an extensive criminal background. The passenger, Andrea Kirchner, 19, also has a criminal background, according to deputies.
Bradley had four active warrants for his arrest at the time of the incident, deputies said.
Pill has been in law enforcement for 30 years and has served 15 years with the Brevard County Sheriff's Department.
"She is a tremendous loss to our community," said Sheriff Jack Parker. "She's the kind of person that makes a true difference in our community."
Pill was a new grandmother, Parker said in a news conference.
"She is the kind of person we could depend on to do anything," said Parker.
Pill has two sons who are also in law enforcement, one with the Brevard County Sheriff's office and the other Melbourne Village Police Department. Pill's daughter-in-law is a crime scene technician with Brevard County.
Authorities said Pill was requesting backup from another officer when Pill and Bradley were engaging in verbal conversation. Bradley then shot Pill multiple times in the face, said authorities.
Bradley and Kirchner then fled the scene in a white SUV.
Deputies, Highway Patrol and Melbourne Police heard the shots over the police radio and then chased the suspects down using stop sticks to stop the vehicle. The vehicle then crashed into a ditch, said investigators.
View WESH.com images, video of the scene
More than a dozen law enforcement agents responded with guns drawn to the SUV in a ditch on Turtlemound Road and Parkway Drive.
In 2007 Bradley was convicted of two felonies for burglary and larceny, in 2008 he was convicted of felony cocaine possession and second degree robbery and in 2011 he was charged with a third degree felony for carrying a concealed firearm, cocaine possession with intent to deliver and marijuana possession. Bradley also has charges on his record for resisting a law enforcement officer.
Kirchner also has a criminal history with larceny and petty theft in the second degree, marijuana possession, as well as battery to cause bodily harm and damage to property and criminal mischief charges.
"That's the kind of people that do these kind of things," said Parker. "They are very violent by nature and you don't exactly know what you are dealing with. In this case you are dealing with a guy who had been to prison who has a violent criminal background,. He's got active criminal warrants and he knows it."
Both suspects are in custody and Parker said they are still figuring out the charges for Bradley and Kirchner.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News
