Fugitive shot dead by police in North Sacramento identified by coroner’s office
A manhunt for a man accused of firing a gun at a Sacramento police sergeant ended nearly a month later, less than three miles from where that initial shooting occurred, and now the fugitive who was shot in a North Sacramento standoff has been identified.
Detectives found Albert Wheeler on Tuesday afternoon at a home in the 500 block of Wisconsin Avenue in the Gardenland neighborhood near Northgate Boulevard. After negotiators spent three hours attempting to have Wheeler surrender peacefully, an officer spotted Wheeler running from the home with a gun and shot him, according to the Sacramento Police Department.
On Thursday morning, Sacramento County Coroner’s Office identified the 50-year-old man as Wheeler. Before then, police declined to disclose the suspect’s name.
Police officials said that after locating Wheeler on Tuesday, officers determined he was armed with a semi-automatic handgun, which “was later recovered in his immediate vicinity.” Within seconds, an officer fired multiple rounds at him, striking him at least once, according to a department news release and department spokeswoman Sgt. Sabrina Briggs.
Authorities had sought Wheeler since early August, when a sergeant was shot at in the 1200 block of Rivera Drive in Sacramento’s Hagginwood neighborhood.
That incident unfolded around 7:30 p.m. Aug. 4, when officers were called to the area for reports of a man brandishing a gun and threatening suicide. The officers spotted Wheeler driving a truck in the area, and when they tried to pull him over, he sped away, according to police.
While officers followed Wheeler, the police sergeant returned to the home of a 911 caller. By the time the sergeant arrived, Wheeler was heading back to the same home. The sergeant told the caller to go back inside for their own safety.
Police officials have said Wheeler fired shots at the sergeant, striking his patrol vehicle twice. The sergeant took cover, and nobody was struck by gunfire. A photo of the sergeant’s patrol vehicle shows a bullet had struck the rear window on the driver’s side, shattering the glass.
Wheeler eluded officers in his pickup truck; his vehicle was recovered later in Arden Arcade, police said.
Not long after the Aug. 4 shooting, the California Highway Patrol issued an alert for Sacramento, Yolo, Placer and Sutter counties for the identified suspect, Wheeler. That so-called Blue Alert was deactivated on Wednesday.
About a week after the police sergeant was shot at, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to Wheeler’s arrest. It’s unclear if the reward will be collected.
The search for Wheeler went cold until Tuesday afternoon, when detectives followed a man through the Natomas and North Sacramento areas to a home in the 500 block of Wisconsin Avenue, about two miles west of where the month-old incident occurred.
Detectives confirmed the wanted suspect was inside the home. Police crisis negotiators arrived and convinced others inside the home to leave, but Wheeler stayed holed up. Several adjacent homes and a nearby gas station also were evacuated.
About three hours later, a police helicopter spotted Wheeler running away from the back of the home toward an officer positioned on the perimeter by the gas station, Briggs said. Officers saw Wheeler, who was reportedly armed, try to escape by hopping over a fence, according to radio traffic.
Wheeler was pronounced dead at the scene.
The police department is expected to soon release video from body-worn cameras in accordance with the city’s use-of-force policy and state law. Police officials said Tuesday night that investigators were in the process of identifying and retrieving video associated with the shooting.
This story was originally published September 3, 2020 at 10:21 AM.
