MELBOURNE, Fla. (AP) — A Brevard County sheriff’s deputy was fatally shot Tuesday making a traffic stop while investigating a motel burglary, officials said.

The deputy, whose name was not immediately released, had stopped a vehicle shortly after 11 a.m. containing two people suspected of stealing furniture from a local motel, said Maj. Vic DeSantis. Shots were fired and the suspects fled.

The deputy was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead.

The two suspects fled in a vehicle which went into a ditch during a chase with police and deputies. The suspects were arrested and were being interviewed by investigators, DeSantis said.

Muhammad Malik, manager at an Econo Lodge where the thefts allegedly occurred, told Florida Today that he called the sheriff’s office after the suspects rented the room and then tried to steal the furniture.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.