Melbourne police officer wounded in shootout at airport hotel; area man arrested, charged
MELBOURNE — A veteran city police officer was shot and wounded Friday as gunfire erupted inside a hotel, authorities said.
Gregory Hughes, a K-9 officer who has worked for 26 years on the Melbourne Police force, was taken to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after the late-afternoon incident at the Suburban Extended Stay Hotel on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard near the airport, police said Saturday.
Melbourne police said later Saturday that he had been released from the hospital.
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Lukas Alves, 28, of Melbourne Beach, was arrested after the shooting and charged with three counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, shooting into an occupied dwelling and aggravated assault with a firearm. Alves was being held Saturday without bail at the Brevard County Jail.
The incident began before 5 p.m. Friday when police were called to the hotel in response to a 911 call. Police did not say what the call was about.
Two officers exchanged fire with people inside one of the hotel rooms when Hughes was struck, police said. Officers from Melbourne's Crisis Negotiation Unit and SWAT were called to assist at the hotel, and Alves and another person inside the room were taken into custody.
It was not immediately known if the other person, whose identity was not disclosed, would be charged. The two officers who fired their weapons have placed on routine administrative duty pending the outcome of an investigation.
Finch Walker is a Breaking News Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at 321-290-4744 or fwalker@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @_finchwalker
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Melbourne cop shot, wounded; man charged with attempted murder
