Man gets life for shooting Florida wildlife officer

PANAMA CITY, Fla. – A man has been sentenced to life in prison for shooting a Florida wildlife officer and then attempting to run him down with his own patrol boat.

Circuit Judge Brantley Clark Jr. on Tuesday ordered 22-year-old Samuel Reager to spend his natural life plus four more decades behind bars. He was convicted for the August 2015 open-water gunfight with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commissioner Officer David Brady in Panama City.

Authorities say Reager ran the boat aground and escaped, prompting a massive manhunt.

Reager was convicted Feb. 9 of first-degree attempted murder on a law enforcement officer.

The News Herald reports Reager’s sentences are consecutive, so if the life sentence is overturned for any reason, he would begin serving the 45-year sentence with no credit for time served.