DAVIS, Calif. (AP) - The Latest on a police officer killed in California (all times local):
7 p.m.
Authorities say a rookie police officer killed on duty in Northern California was ambushed by a gunman on a bicycle.
The police chief in Davis says investigators have not determined a motive for Thursday night’s killing.
Chief Darren Pytel says the suspect rode a bicycle to the scene of a three-car crash in the small college town and fired multiple rounds.
Officer Natalie Corona, who was investigating the collision, was struck in the neck.
Pytel said the gunman left and went to his apartment nearby. A backpack left at the scene led officers to his door several hours. He shot himself in the head following an armed standoff with police.
The gunman’s name was not released.
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4:25 p.m.
The father of a young California police officer killed on duty says his daughter had a caring heart, was a great older sister and “died doing what she loved to do.”
A teary-eyed Jose Merced Corona told KTXL-TV in Sacramento Friday that his daughter, 22-year-old Natalie Corona, was extremely proud of being an officer with the Davis Police Department.
The elder Corona is a retired Colusa County sheriff’s sergeant who was elected to the Board of Supervisors last November.
He said the family was at a basketball game for another daughter when he received a call from a relative that an officer had been shot in Davis.
The family headed over to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, where Corona died.
He says the family is not angry.
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3:30 p.m.
A witness to a shooting that killed a Northern California police officer said he heard at least 10 gunshots.
Shaun Kingston said he saw the gunman shoot at a firetruck and reload expertly.
From his vantage point, Kingston didn’t see Natalie Corona, a 22-year-old rookie officer with the Davis Police Department, get hit. He said as terrified bystanders ran, he saw the shooter calmly walk away before he lost sight of him in the crowd.
Police said Corona was investigating a car crash Thursday night when the shooter opened fire. The suspect, who has not been identified, was later found dead inside a home with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
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2:05 p.m.
A cousin of 22-year-old Natalie Corona says the slain police officer was the eldest of four girls who dreamed of following her father into a career in law enforcement.
Corona, a rookie with the Davis Police Department, shot and killed Thursday while responding to a multi-vehicle crash in the college town of Davis in Northern California.
Emily Gomez says Corona talked constantly about growing up to be like her dad. Jose Merced Corona is a retired Colusa County sheriff’s sergeant who was elected to the Board of Supervisors last November.
Gomez says Corona talked often about how much she loved her job.
Police say the suspect was later found dead in a house near the shooting.
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1:40 p.m.
A driver involved in a three-vehicle crash that led to the shooting death of a Northern California police officer says the gunman fired from behind him and then walked off appearing to shoot at others at random. Police have not said anyone other than the officer was shot.
Christian Pascual told The Sacramento Bee that the gunman fired so closely to his right ear that he couldn’t hear properly the morning after the Thursday night shooting.
He says he didn’t believe the shots came from someone in one of the crashed cars.
Pascual says he had handed over his license to Davis police officer Natalie Corona when he heard the gunshots.
He said that he ducked and when he looked up, Corona was on the ground and the shooter was “shooting at what looked like random people to me.”
Police say the suspect was later found dead in a house near the shooting.
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1:05 p.m.
A Northern California rookie policewoman who was shot and killed is being remembered as “the cop that any community would want.”
Davis Police Lt. Paul Doroshov said Officer Natalie Corona was great with people and dedicated to her job. He said of the 22-year-old woman that “everybody who met her liked her.”
Corona graduated from the Sacramento Police Academy in July 2018 and completed her training in December.
Police said Corona was shot after responding alone to a traffic accident shortly before 7 p.m. Thursday in the city west of Sacramento, a college town home to the University of California, Davis.
The suspect was later found dead in a house near the shooting.
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9:40 a.m.
Gov. Gavin Newsom is ordering state Capitol flags flown at half-staff for a 22-year-old police officer who was fatally shot in northern California by a suspect who later died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Davis Police Department officials say Officer Natalie Corona was shot after responding to a traffic accident Thursday evening in the community west of Sacramento.
She had been on the job just a few weeks.
Corona was rushed to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, where she later died. Police have not named the suspect, who was found in a house near the shooting, nor determined what prompted the shooting.
Newsom says he and his wife, Jennifer, are saddened by the death of a woman he called “courageous” who died “protecting her protecting her community from harm.”
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7:30 a.m.
Officials say a 22-year-old police officer who was killed in Northern California while investigating a three-car crash was the daughter of a retired sheriff’s deputy and a rising star at the David Police Department.
Davis Police Officer Natalie Corona was shot after responding alone to a traffic accident shortly before 7 p.m. Thursday in the city west of Sacramento. Corona was taken to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, where she later died.
The Sacramento Bee reports Corona’s father spent 26 years as a Colusa County Sheriff’s deputy.
Officials say Corona graduated from the Sacramento Police Department’s training academy in July and completed her field training just before Christmas.
The suspect was later found dead in a house near the shooting. He has not been identified.
Her death follows the killing of a central California officer on Dec. 26 during a traffic stop.
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2:30 a.m.
Authorities say a police officer who’d only been on the job a few weeks has died after being shot in northern California by a suspect who later died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Davis Police Department officials say 22-year-old Officer Natalie Corona was shot after responding to a traffic accident about 6:45 p.m. Thursday in the community west of Sacramento. Police said the shooting happened in the area of Fifth and C streets near downtown.
Corona was rushed to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, where she later died.
Following the shooting, police issued a citywide shelter in place order as officers searched for the suspect, who was later found in a house located near the shooting.
Police have not identified the suspect, nor determined what prompted the shooting.
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