JURUPA VALLEY, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California sheriff’s deputy was shot and killed Thursday while trying to stop a car and the suspect was later killed, authorities said.
The Riverside County sheriff's deputy pulled over a vehicle just before 2 p.m. in the city east of Los Angeles, the Sheriff's Department said in a Facebook post. The motorcycle deputy, later identified by the department as Isaiah Cordero, was shot at some point during the traffic stop and later died at the hospital.
Jurupa Valley Mayor Chris Barajas said without elaborating on the details that “the suspect has been apprehended and is deceased.”
“Our community is devastated by the loss of one of our sheriff’s deputies,” Barajas wrote in a Facebook post. “Our thoughts are with the officer’s family and all the law enforcement community.”
Several hours after the shooting, dozens of motorcycle officers and patrol cars escorted a hearse as it transported the deputy's flag-draped casket from the hospital to the county coroner's office.
Cordero was “a ray of sunshine" and “a person who was dedicated to protecting others," a statement from the Riverside Sheriff's Association said.
“Deputy Cordero put on his uniform daily to make a difference in his community and keep families safe," the statement said. “Deputy Cordero’s death leaves a tremendous hole in the hearts of so many people who had the chance to know him personally."
The Sheriff's Department posted on Twitter around 2:45 p.m. that the agency was investigating a shooting in Jurupa Valley and asked people to avoid the area. It was not immediately clear what prompted the original traffic stop.
Authorities said the deputy was shot when he tried to stop a pickup truck in a residential neighborhood across the street from an elementary school, according to multiple TV news reports.
The driver then led police on a high-speed chase along several freeways. The chase, which was followed live on TV, ended on Interstate 15 in Norco, a few miles south of Jurupa Valley, when a sheriff’s armored truck rammed the fleeing pickup and pinned it on an embankment.
TV reports showed bullet holes in the windshield.
The city of Jurupa Valley contracts with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department for its policing services.
Jurupa Valley is about 45 miles (72 kilometers) east of downtown Los Angeles.
