'Bonnie And Clyde' In Fatal Shootout With Cops

A Missouri couple accused of a violent crime spree across multiple southern US states have been shot by law enforcement.

Blake Fitzgerald died in the Florida showdown and his girlfriend, Brittany Nicole Harper, was taken to a local hospital wounded.

Santa Rosa County sheriff's Sgt Rich Aloy said the shootout took place at about 12.30am on Friday on a road.

According to local media, police cornered the couple, both 30, in Milton after a car chase, a foot chase and another car chase.

WPMI, a TV news station, reports that Harper was shot multiple times, and that no officers were injured.

The showdown comes a day after US Marshals compared the couple to Bonnie and Clyde and announced a $10,000 (£6,895) bounty for information leading to their arrest.

The pair have been linked to a series of robberies and kidnaps in Alabama and Georgia.

They are also suspected of two robberies in Florida on Wednesday.

Police say their crime spree began on 22 January when guns were stolen during a burglary in Joplin, Missouri.

On Sunday, Fitzgerald and Harper allegedly kidnapped a hotel employee in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

The clerk, Kyle Dease, told Al.com they told him they hoped to make it to Florida to get married and start a new life together.

Fitzgerald also allegedly told Mr Dease he did not plan on going back to prison.

They stole his car and drove about 60 miles to Vestavia Hills, where they freed him and dumped the vehicle, US Marshals said.

According to police, the couple then invaded a nearby home in the upmarket suburb and stole a family's Ford Edge SUV at gunpoint.

They took a woman hostage before releasing her unharmed in Birmingham, Alabama.

They were next heard of last Monday in Perry, Georgia, where they robbed a gas station, taking cigarettes and money from the safe, police said.

They allegedly kidnapped an employee before releasing him about 15 miles away.