Deputy Dennis Wallace
Stanislaus County sheriff's deputy is shot and killed, and a suspect is in custody
By Ruben Vives and Jack Leonard
The Los Angeles Times
A Stanislaus County sheriff's deputy was shot and killed Sunday in “an execution” carried out by a wanted man who was caught hours later following an extensive manhunt, authorities said.
Deputy Dennis Wallace, a 20-year department veteran, was shot twice in the head after calling dispatch about a suspicious car and person in Fox Grove Park, Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson told reporters at a news conference.
“We know for a fact that the gun used in this crime was in direct contact with his head when the trigger was pulled -- twice,” Christianson said, according to video posted by news station KCR3. “This was an execution.”
The suspect, identified as David Machado Jr., 36, fled before carjacking a 2009 white Kia Rio in the nearby community of Keyes, Christianson said.
“We will find him and we will arrest him,” the sheriff vowed, while warning the public not to approach him if they see him but to call 911.
Shortly after 1 p.m., the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department sent out a tweet saying Machado had been taken into custody in Tulare County by a local police agency.
Christianson said the events that led to the shooting began around 8:24 a.m. when Wallace called in and was told by dispatch that a car he saw at the Fox Grove Fishing Access was stolen. Wallace asked for another unit but never responded to additional messages from dispatchers, Christianson said.
A second deputy discovered Wallace when he arrived. The gunman had fled, Christianson said. The carjacking in Keyes occurred around 8:40 a.m., the sheriff said.
Machado, he said, had an outstanding warrant in connection with another felony, but the sheriff did not elaborate.
“He is a known criminal,” Christianson said.
Wallace, he said, was well known for working on anti-drug and early intervention programs. He was married with a family, the sheriff said.
The killing was the second in four years for the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department. In 2012, Deputy Robert Paris, a 16-year department veteran, was killed along with a civilian when a gunman opened fire as authorities tried to serve an eviction notice at an apartment complex in Modesto.
Last month, four law enforcement officers were slain in California in a two-week period.
On Oct. 6, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Steve Owen was shot as he responded to a burglary report in Lancaster. Days later, Palm Springs police Officers Lesley Zerebny, 27, and Jose “Gil” Vega, 63, were shot and killed in what officials said was a planned attack. Authorities said John Hernandez Felix, 26, ambushed the officers as they stood outside his door.
And on Oct. 19, Modoc County Sheriff’s Deputy Jack Hopkins was gunned down while responding to a disturbance call.
On Sunday, Christianson decried having to face reporters again to announce the slaying of one of his deputies and called for a show of unity for law enforcement nationwide.
“Unfortunately, we do this far too often here in California and nationwide,” he said. “You have to ask yourself the question: Where does it stop? Where does it end?”
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...113-story.html
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