A Sacramento County Sheriff's deputy is dead after a shootout that also wounded two California Highway Patrol officers on Wednesday.
Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones said 52-year-old Deputy Robert French died on his way to a hospital. French served in the Sheriff's Department for 21 years.
Deputy Robert French. Photo courtesy of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department
Jones also told reporters that two CHP officers who also were shot during the vehicle theft investigation are expected to survive.
The shooting took place as the sheriff's Auto Theft Task Force was involved in a stolen vehicle operation that led them to the Ramada Inn on Auburn Boulevard Wednesday morning. The CHP officers were attempting to serve a search warrant at one of the rooms when the suspect opened fire through the closed door, wounding the officers. The suspect went to the balcony and used a high-powered rifle to shoot at sheriff's deputies stationed at the rear of the motel. The suspect jumped off the balcony and fled in a vehicle. He crashed a couple of blocks away and was wounded after yet another exchange of gunfire with officers. The suspect was eventually take into custody with two female suspects.
Sacramento Sheriff's Spokesman Tony Turnbull said the incident involved an assault rifle and transpired very quickly.
Turnbull added that officers risk an unknown fate everyday.