Police
secure scene in Santa Cruz, Calif. where two Santa Cruz Police
detectives were shot and killed Feb. 26, 2013. The officers were
investigating a sexual assault, and a suspect was later fatally shot,
authorities said. / AP
SANTA CRUZ, Calif.
Two police detectives were fatally shot when they tried to question a
man over a report of a sexual assault, and the man later died after a
brief chase, authorities said.
Sgt. Loren Butch Baker and
Detective Elizabeth Butler were shot and killed Tuesday during an
altercation at the home of the man, according to police and the Santa
Cruz County Sheriff's office.
They were shot while
following up on allegations that 35-year-old barista Jeremy Goulet made
inappropriate sexual advances on a co-worker at her home, authorities
said. Goulet was arrested Friday, and The Santa Cruz Sentinel reported
that he was fired the next day.
Baker, a 28-year veteran
of the force, and Butler, a 10-year veteran, had gone to the house where
Goulet was living to follow up on the case, authorities said. They were
subsequently fired upon and called for backup, and responding officers
found Goulet, who died in the gunfire that followed, the sheriff's
office said.
"There aren't words to describe this
horrific tragedy," said Police Chief Kevin Vogel. "This is the darkest
day in the history of the Santa Cruz police department."
The
shootings prompted the lockdown of two schools and an automatic police
call to nearby residents, warning them to stay locked inside.
The
ordinarily quiet residential neighborhood echoed with a brief barrage
of gunfire that killed the suspect about a half hour after the officers
were shot.
Witnesses
described hearing a "multitude of gunfire" - with 20 or more shots
fired during that gun battle between the suspect and law enforcement. A store clerk a few buildings from the shooting said the barrage of gunfire was "terrifying." "We
ducked. We have big desks so under the desks we went," said the clerk,
who spoke on condition of anonymity and asked that her store not be
identified because she feared for her safety.
After the
shootings, police went door-to-door in the neighborhood, searching
homes, garages, even closets, to determine whether there might be
additional suspects. Law enforcement officers filled intersections, and
helicopters and light aircraft patrolled the neighborhood about a mile
from downtown Santa Cruz and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
The
city's mayor, Hilary Bryant, said in a statement that the community
about 60 miles south of San Francisco was "heartbroken at the loss of
two of our finest police officers who were killed in the line of duty,
protecting the community we love."
"This is an exceptionally shocking and sad day for Santa Cruz and our police department," Bryant said.
Goulet,
a barista at a coffee shop in the Santa Cruz harbor, was previously
convicted in Portland, Ore., in May 2008 of peeping on a 22-year-old
woman who was showering in her condominium and of carrying concealed
weapon, according to a Portland newspaper, The Oregonian. He was on
probation but was sentenced to two years in jail after a dispute with
his probation officer.
The shootings came amid a recent
spike in assaults, which community leaders had planned to address in a
downtown rally scheduled for Tuesday. That, along with a city council
meeting, was canceled after teary-eyed city leaders learned of the
deaths.
The recent violence included the killing of a
32-year-old martial arts instructor who was shot outside a popular
downtown bar and restaurant; the robbery of a student at the University
of California, Santa Cruz, who was shot in the head; a 21-year-old woman
who was raped and beaten on the UC campus; and a couple who fought off
two men during a home invasion.
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