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Drug Suspect Killed After Shooting At Deputies

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By GEOFF FOX and KEITH MORELLI

gfox@wfla.com kmorelli@tampatrib.com

Published: February 21, 2009

HOLIDAY - Deputies shot and killed a suspected drug dealer Friday morning after he fired at SWAT team members, wounding one deputy.

About 5:30 a.m., deputies arrived at 3550 Windham Drive with a warrant to search the house where 38-year-old Luther K. Hudson lived with his brother, George. Detectives had been conducting an undercover narcotics investigation involving the house for months.

Luther Hudson opened fire from a bedroom as deputies entered the home. He was shot once in the chest and died at a local hospital.

He was killed by the deputy whom he shot in the chest. The deputy was slightly injured by a bullet that hit his bulletproof vest and radio.

"He opened fire on our deputies, and we returned fire, and it was a very low-level gunfight," Sheriff Bob White said. "Only a couple of rounds were exchanged, and as a result the person who attacked our deputies is deceased this morning."

Known as "Fatboy," the 5-foot-7, 365-pound Hudson had a lengthy criminal history. In 1989, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison for attempted murder and firing into an occupied vehicle in Tarpon Springs, records show. He served almost four years for selling and possessing drugs in Pinellas County in 2001.

The investigation began after neighbors complained about Hudson selling drugs out of the house, White said. Hudson used to brag that if he was ever raided by law enforcement, "he would take care of them," White said.

Photographer Andy Jones contributed to this report.

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