Detective Ricky Joe Childers, 46, was killed on May 19, 1998, in Tampa, Florida. A Tampa Police Department detective with 18 years’ service, Childers was transporting a suspect, Hank Earl Carr, to the station for questioning about an earlier shooting in which Carr had shot his girlfriend’s 3-year-old child. During the transport Carr used a hidden key to free one hand from his cuffs, seized a detective’s weapon as the car neared I-275 on Floribraska Avenue, and fatally shot Detective Childers and Detective Randy Bell.

Afterward Carr took a rifle from the trunk, carjacked another vehicle, and during a high-speed chase shot and killed Florida State Trooper James B. Crooks. The chase ended in a standoff at a gas station where Carr died by suicide. Reports say Carr had given a false name and birth date, leading detectives to treat him as a grieving father rather than a dangerous felon.

Does anyone have memories of Detective Childers or details about the transport that could help shed light on how Carr was able to exploit the situation?