I-75 in Lee County was shut in both directions during an hours-long standoff with a homicide suspect near Alico Road

Both directions of Interstate 75 near Exit 128 at Alico Road in Lee County were closed for hours on Wednesday, July 22 during a standoff with a man the Florida Highway Patrol said was wanted in connection with a fatal shooting. WGCU reported the incident, and WINK News covered it as it unfolded.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, troopers received a be-on-the-lookout alert around 12:30 p.m. for a man believed to be connected to the killing of a 47-year-old woman, a city sanitation worker and mother of four, at a St. Petersburg work site earlier that day. FHP said the man was believed to be suicidal. Troopers located him in Lee County around 2:30 p.m. and attempted a traffic stop on southbound I-75.

The driver fled, according to FHP, and troopers used a PIT maneuver to stop the vehicle near Alico Road. The man then barricaded himself inside. FHP said multiple shots were fired at the vehicle before he was taken into custody with help from the Lee County Sheriff's Office. The agency said no law enforcement officers were injured. The man, identified by FHP as 43-year-old Ladavion King, was hospitalized in serious condition, according to the reporting.

The shutdown closed both directions of the interstate during the standoff. The northbound side reopened around 5 p.m., and the full highway reopened later that night once the investigation on scene concluded. Traffic on I-75 through Lee County is running normally now.

No standalone public incident report was posted at a stable public address at the time of publication, so this brief credits WGCU and WINK News for the reporting and attributes each factual claim about the incident to the Florida Highway Patrol. King has not been convicted of any offense, and the connection to the St. Petersburg case is one the authorities have described rather than one a court has decided.