SACRAMENTO, Calif.—A rookie Sacramento police offer was fatally shot during a domestic violence call and laid wounded for about 45 minutes as the gunman kept officers at bay with volleys of bullets, authorities said Thursday, June 20.
Officer Tara O’Sullivan, 26, was shot shortly Wednesday while helping a woman collect her belongings to leave her home.
As officers swarmed the area, the gunman continued firing and the standoff lasted about eight hours before he surrendered.
“We are devastated,” Deputy Chief Dave Peletta said at a news conference. “There are no words to convey the depth of sadness we feel or how heartbroken we are for the family of our young, brave officer.”
It is with a broken heart that we have to share with all of you that earlier today we lost one of our own. While on a call for service in North Sacramento, Officer Tara O’Sullivan was shot and killed. She gave her young life while protecting our community pic.twitter.com/MXr7C4M5qJ
— Sacramento Police (@SacPolice) June 20, 2019
O’Sullivan graduated from the police academy in December and was working with a training officer. She was expected to be on her own in a couple of weeks, Peletta said.
She and other officers arrived at the home at 5:41 p.m. A half-hour later the first shots were fired and O’Sullivan was hit. The woman she was helping was not hurt, and the relationship between that woman and the gunman was not immediately known.
It also was unclear if the gunman was on the scene when officers arrived or if he showed up while they were there.
It also was unclear if the gunman was on the scene when officers arrived or if he showed up while they were there.
The gunman continued firing a rifle-type weapon. At 6:54 p.m., additional officers responded with an armored vehicle to rescue O’Sullivan.
“Our officers maintained cover in safe positions until we were able to get an armored vehicle in the area,” police Sgt. Vance Chandler said.
Five minutes later, O’Sullivan was taken to UC Davis Medical Center, where she died.
Mayor Darrell Steinberg issued a statement to O’Sullivan’s parents, family and fellow officers.
“As a father I am grieving with you,” he said. “As mayor of the city she swore to protect, our city is heartbroken and we are here for you every step of the way.”
O’Sullivan grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and graduated last year from Sacramento State University with a degree in child development.
In a Facebook posting, Steinberg said O’Sullivan was in the first graduating class of a groundbreaking program at Sacramento State that “emphasizes the importance of inclusion and cultural competence for future law enforcement leaders—of which Tara undoubtedly would have been.”
Before being hired as a Sacramento officer, O’Sullivan worked with the Police Department as part of a community service program providing crime prevention support.
(Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo)
By Don Thompson
