Rancho Cordova cop expected to survive after shootout with mobile home gunman
A Sacramento County sheriff’s deputy who was injured Saturday night during a wild shootout with a gunman suspected of killing a woman in a mobile home park in Rancho Cordova is expected to survive. The shooter, who was described only as a 29-year-old man, was killed by deputies in the exchange of bullets.
The wounded deputy, who was not identified, was in critical condition and undergoing surgery Saturday after being struck at least twice, Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones said. Law enforcement officials said the gunman, who they believe shot and killed the woman inside a home, then engaged in a gunfight with deputies in the Centennial Estates complex.
“Officers responding to a routine call for service were met with gunfire and returned fire,” Jones said.
By Sunday morning, the Sheriff’s Office said the deputy made it through surgery and had stabilized.
“We have felt your prayers for our deputy who was critically injured in a shooting in Rancho Cordova last night,” the agency said in an update on social media. “We are pleased to report our deputy is out of surgery and in stable condition.”
In a news conference just after 10:30 p.m. Saturday, Jones said the deputy, who was assigned to the agency’s East Division, was taken to a hospital for surgery. He asked the public to “pray for our officer.” The department is contracted with the city to handle calls as Rancho Cordova police.
Authorities received a call around 7 p.m. from a woman on the 160 block of Dutchess Way near Mills Station Road who said her grandson was in her house pointing a gun at her. She had a restraining order against him, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Sgt. Tess Deterding.
Arriving deputies recognized the gunman outside the residence. The man fled and officers gave chase — that led to a shootout, Deterding said, in which the suspect struck the officer before being taken down.
Officers then discovered the body of the woman; she had been shot in the head, Deterding said.
The relationship between the shooter and the woman was under investigation, Deterding said.
Saunia Roberts, who lives in the 183-unit mobile home park, said she saw the deputy lying in the street with a bullet wound to his leg. The deputy, according to radio traffic, was driven to UC Davis Medical Center by his partner.
Several homes on Duchess and Kings ways were evacuated after the gunfight sprayed bullets into several homes in the neighborhood. Between 30 and 40 rounds were fired in the incident, neighbors said.
Roberts said she heard the shooting occur on her front porch. She said she saw eight patrol cars turn the corner onto King Way moments before the exchange.
“I knew where they were going,” she said, identifying the gunman by name. She said he had been in a dispute that had been going on for “some days.”
Moments later, she heard a series of gunshots: “It was more rounds than you can count.”
Roberts said the deputy was put into the back of a patrol car as other law enforcement, including Sacramento police, rushed in to secure the area.
This story was originally published August 22, 2020 at 7:53 PM.