SWAT team arrests suspect accused of firing at off-duty deputy in downtown Sacramento
Police located and arrested a man suspected of shooting at an off-duty sheriff’s deputy Tuesday morning in downtown Sacramento, near the county jail and a federal courthouse. The deputy was not hurt.
Police in a Tuesday news release said an off-duty deputy, who was not in uniform, had been fired upon from a moving vehicle near Fifth and I streets shortly before 6 a.m.
Detectives assisted by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office and California Highway Patrol located evidence that helped identify the shooting suspect as Rashpal Sahota, 40, the Sacramento Police Department said in a Wednesday morning update.
SWAT teams responded to Sahota’s residence around 8 p.m. and took him into custody without incident, police said.
A search of the home turned up an illegally possessed handgun, the Police Department said in tweets.
The deputy was not injured in the shooting, but a window was damaged on the ground floor of the Robert T. Matsui U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building.
Busy stretches of Fifth, Sixth and I streets were closed for several hours as law enforcement personnel investigated. The area includes the Sacramento County Main Jail and the Sacramento Valley Station rail transit hub as well as the courthouse. All three sites remained open Tuesday morning.
Sahota was booked into the Main Jail on felony charges of assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm by a felon and discharging a firearm at an inhabited building.
His bail is set at $2 million and he is due for an initial court appearance Thursday, booking records show.
This story was originally published March 2, 2022 at 10:28 AM.
