One police officer in Pomona, Calif., was shot and killed on Friday night and another was seriously injured by a gunman who barricaded himself inside an apartment for 15 hours before being taken into custody on Saturday, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.
The officer who was killed was identified as Greggory Casillas, 30, by the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner. Chief Michael Olivieri of the Pomona Police Department said that Officer Casillas joined the department in September and was about to complete field training.
Officer Casillas, who is survived by his wife and two children, was “a hero, a man to be looked up to,” Chief Olivieri said during a news conference after the arrest. “He left his family at home to protect yours, and his ultimate sacrifice will never be forgotten.”
Late Saturday, the sheriff’s department identified the man they had arrested as Isaias De Jesus Valencia, 39, of Pomona. In a brief statement, the authorities said he would be charged with murder and attempted murder and was being held without bail.
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The shooting occurred shortly after 9 p.m. local time, the authorities said. The episode began after officers from Pomona, a city of about 150,000 people 30 miles outside Los Angeles, responded to a call of a person driving recklessly.
They tried to stop the driver, who led them on a pursuit before crashing into a parked vehicle.
“The suspect fled to a nearby apartment complex where he barricaded himself to a bedroom in one of the apartments,” a news release from the sheriff’s department said. “The officers attempted to contact the suspect when the suspect began to shoot through the door, striking two officers.”
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