Calif. Deputy Dead, Officer Critical After Shooting

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: February 25, 2010


SANGER, Calif. (AP) -- A California homicide detective died Thursday and a police officer was in critical condition after they were shot during an investigation in a rural area of Central California, authorities said.

The suspected shooter, who has not been identified, then barricaded himself inside his mobile home and kept firing on law enforcement officials in an ongoing standoff, authorities said.

''We lost a good deputy sheriff today,'' Fresno Sheriff Margaret Mims said.

Mims said the shooter was also suspected of arson and another shooting. He opened fire when deputies and a state fire official arrived at his mobile home to serve warrants in those cases, she said.

A neighbor reported hearing hundreds of shots.

The suspect lived at the residence with his wife, but it was unclear if any other people were inside the home, she said.

Mims said authorities had not had any contact with the suspect in the ongoing standoff, and it wasn't clear if he was still alive.

Another wounded Fresno County deputy was in stable condition after the shooting. The names of the three officers were not immediately released.

The wounded police officer from Reedley was responding to a call for backup after the deputies had been shot, Mims said.

Mary Novack, who runs a convenience store across from the home under siege, said she saw several deputies and fire officials arrive Thursday morning. They used a loudspeaker to repeatedly demanded someone inside surrender then smashed down the door, she said.

She saw some of the deputies go inside before hearing gunfire.

''Oh my god, somebody's going to be dead,'' Novack recalled thinking at the time.

Novack said she later saw an officer on the ground.

Jim Stone, 46, who lives about 100 feet from the surrounded home, said he was evacuated after the shooting erupted. Stone said he heard what sounded like hundreds of shots.

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Associated Press Writers Lisa Leff in San Francisco and Garance Burke in Fresno contributed to this report.

A version of this article appeared in print on February 25, 2010, on 4 of the New York edition.