Photo: Sacramento County Deputy Robert French was killed in the shootout this afternoon.
Three officers were shot Wednesday near a Sacramento County motel off Capital City Freeway, and at least four people were detained in connection with the shooting, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Two of the officers are with the California Highway Patrol, and the other is with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department.
Robert “Bob” French, a 21-year veteran of the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, died on the way to the hospital. The CHP officers were hospitalized and their conditions have been stabilized.
KCRA3 reports that the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Auto Theft Task Force was working a stolen vehicle operation about 8 a.m. in the area of Fulton Auburn and Auburn Boulevard when they saw two women get into a stolen vehicle.
Additional officers went to the Ramada Inn in the 2600 block of Auburn Boulevard to serve a search warrant when they were shot at by a suspect.
Two CHP officers were hit. Additional sheriff’s deputies went to the back of the Ramada Inn, where a suspect fired on them with a high-powered rifle from the balcony of a room inside the motel.
The suspect ran from the hotel and got into a car, which officers followed south on Fulton Avenue to El Camino Avenue where the suspect crash the vehicle. He then opened fire on officers again at the crash site and was hit by officers’ gunfire.