By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

Elk Grove police Officer Tisha Smith told a jury today how she finally shot down a gunman who had already killed two people and was going for more during a methamphetamine-fueled rampage almost four years ago.

Smith testified that she had already been stunned by "probably the loudest thing I've ever heard" when murder defendant Aaron Norman Dunn shot out the rear passenger window in her patrol car during his March 25, 2006, shooting spree on Laguna Boulevard.

The officer said that she and her partner, Janell Bestpitch, sped away to safety then circled back to where their car had been blasted. When she got out of the car, Smith said people yelled warnings that the man holding a shotgun at his hip was approaching her from behind.

Smith said she turned, told Dunn to drop the weapon, then fired twice when he didn't. She testified she thinks she hit the 33-year-old Dunn, but that the defendant kept moving toward the patrol car and chased Bestpitch around it twice.

The two ultimately faced off across the trunk area of the car. Smith said Bestpitch fired twice and that Dunn crouched toward the ground. Then, Smith said, Dunn turned and aimed the shotgun at her.

"He lays out in a prone position, on his stomach, with the gun pointed outward," facing her, Smith told the Sacramento Superior Court jury. "I asked him to show me his hands. He raised the shotgun toward my direction."

Smith said she told Bestpitch over the radio to get out of the way. Then, "I fired two more shots in his direction."

Dunn "finally put the gun toward the ground and slumped over," Smith said. Several other officers who had just arrived at the shooting site ran up and handcuffed him.

Deputy District Attorney Scott Triplett's timeline showed that Dunn already had shot and killed Johnie Ray Johnson and Michael John Daly by the time Smith and Bestpitch stopped him with a total of six shots that hit their mark and critically wounded the defendant.

The two officers, who were employees of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department at the time, were awarded with the Medal of Valor for bringing the rampage to an end.

Dunn is charged with two counts of murder in the case and faces the possibility of the death penalty if he is convicted on the first-degree murder charges.

Defense lawyers Amy Rogers and Hayes Gable III have conceded that their client shot and killed Johnson, 46, and Daly, 46, who were out having family dinners at popular Elk Grove restaurants when they were gunned down. The attorneys, however, say that Dunn's mental capacity had been diminished by the methamphetamine consumption and that he is only guilty of second-degree murder.

Call The Bee's Andy Furillo, (916) 321-1079.

Previous coverage:

Witnesses tell of lives shattered in deadly Elk Grove shooting spree - March 12, 2010

Prosecutor, defense attorneys agree suspect killed two people in Elk Grove - March 10, 2010

Elk Grove residents eligible for murder case jury - Dec. 11, 2009

Prosecutor's bid for Placer DA could stall trial for double killing - Dec. 2, 2009

Homicide suspect's lawyers don't want any Elk Grove jurors - Aug. 11, 2009