A Sacramento County sheriff’s deputy, police dog and suspect are dead after a shootout Monday night in Sacramento, California.
Around 10 p.m., deputies pulled over a vehicle they suspected was involved in some burglaries, sheriff’s officials said. The driver became uncooperative and fled, eventually crashing his car into a curb inside the Cal Expo complex, where the California State Fair is held.
He refused to exit the car, even after deputies shot beanbag rounds into the back window, according to sheriff’s officials.
The deputies tried sending a dog named Riley through the window. Shots rang out from inside the car, striking Riley and two deputies, sheriff’s officials said.
Adam Gibson, 31, who had been on the force for six years and was the father of a 9-month-old baby, died in the shootout, as did Riley. The second deputy, 43, was taken to a trauma center and is in serious but stable condition.
The driver was hit by gunfire as multiple deputies shot back at him and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Gibson, who also is survived by his wife, Rachel, served two tours in Afghanistan with the U.S. Marine Corps, sheriff’s officials said. Riley was 5 years old and had worked as a K9 officer for three years.
“It’s tragic,” Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones told local reporters. “I try to find the right thing to say … there’s really nothing. I’m just trying to fight back tears, like everyone else.”
Jones said there is no reason to believe the incident was a planned attack or ambush. The suspect was on active parole, sheriff’s officials said, without naming him or offering other details about him.
The use of deadly force by the deputies will be investigated internally by the sheriff’s office, while the Sacramento Police Department will investigate other aspects of the incident.
The Sacramento Bee identified the suspect as Robert Stephen Calderon.
In an interview with the newspaper, Julian Garcia, a cousin of Calderon, said the two were like brothers.
“I’ve known him my whole life,” Garcia said. “I think he was on drugs. He had to have been. … I don’t know why he did that. It’s just a loss.”
“He was a good person,” he added.
Garcia also expressed condolences to the family of the slain deputy.
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