Suspect in ambush shooting which left one deputy dead and two more injured is revealed to be active-duty Air Force sergeant - as FBI investigate link to deadly drive-by attack on a federal officer a week earlier
The man suspected of fatally shooting a Northern California sheriff's deputy and wounding two others in an ambush on Saturday has been revealed to be an active duty Air Force sergeant - as the FBI probes a possible link to a May 29 shooting of a federal officer in Oakland.
The US Air Force confirmed Sunday that the suspect, Steven Carrillo, 32, is an active duty sergeant stationed at Travis Air Force Base.
Carrillo allegedly shot and killed Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller, 38, in an 'ambush' in Ben Lomond, an unincorporated area near Santa Cruz, as cops investigated reportss of a van containing guns and bomb-making materials.
A second deputy was injured, and a third officer from the California Highway Patrol was shot in his hand. Carrillo was shot during his arrest and was being treated at the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, Santa Cruz County Sheriff Jim Hart said.
It was also revealed that the FBI is investigating if there is a link between Saturday's ambush and the death of Dave Patrick Underwood, a federal officer who was killed in a drive-by shooting at a US courthouse in Oakland on May 29.
Steven Carrillo (left), 32, is an active duty US Air Force sergeant stationed at Travis Air Force Base. He is the suspect in the deadly ambush which killed Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Deputy Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller (right) and wounded two other deputies
Carrillo (seen above in the blue shirt on the far right during his arrest on Saturday in Ben Lomond, California) is now facing several charges, including murder, assault with a deadly weapon and carjacking
Investigators are looking into possible link to the May 29 fatal drive-by shooting of Dave Patrick Underwood, a 53-year-old federal officer who was on duty in front of a US courthouse in Oakland when he was killed on May 29
A Travis Air Force Base spokesman confirmed Sunday that Carrillo had arrived at Travis Air Force Base in June 2018 and was a member of the 60th Security Forces Squadron.
They also revealed that Carrillo's wife Monika Leigh Scott Carrillo, who was also in the Air Force, was found dead in an off-base hotel in May 2018 while she was stationed in South Carolina. She was 30.
Her death was investigated by the Sumter County Sheriff's Office, in coordination with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, and ruled a suicide, according to the Air Force.
Deputy Gutzwiller was shot dead on Saturday in Santa Cruz County as officers responded to a 911 call about a suspicious van.
The caller said there were guns and bomb-making devices inside, Hart said.
Carrillo's wife, US Air Force Airman 1st Class Monika Carrillo (above) was found dead of an apparent suicide on a military base in South Carolina in May 2018. No foul play was suspected
When deputies arrived, the van pulled away and the deputies followed.
The van went down a driveway at Carrillo's home and the deputies were ambushed by gunfire and explosives after getting out of their vehicle.
Gutzwiller was wounded and later died at a hospital.
Another deputy was wounded by gunfire or shrapnel and struck by a vehicle as the suspect fled.
Carrillo allegedly attempted to carjack a vehicle and was wounded while being arrested.
Hart said Carrillo was taken to the hospital for treatment and would be charged with first-degree murder.
The shooting has shocked the small community of Ben Lomond, a town of about 6,000 people tucked up in the Santa Cruz mountains. Scene photo above
'In my 32-year career, this is the worst day I've ever experienced,' Sheriff Jim Hart said as he stared a news conference
The Sheriff's office gave more details on it's Facebook site over exactly what happened
The FBI are now investigating a possible link between the attack, and the shooting of Underwood outside the US courthouse in Oakland, ABC7 reports.
'We are actively working with the Santa Cruz Co Sherriff's Department to see if there are any connections to the shooting at the Oakland federal building. At this time, we have no new information to release', the FBI said in a statement.
Underwood, 53, died and another officer was critically wounded when someone fired shots from a vehicle on the evening of May 29.
It wasn't immediately clear if the drive-by shooting was related to the protests that erupted after the police-involved death of George Floyd, though the federal building's glass doors were smashed and the front entrance was sprayed with anti-police graffiti.
The FBI released images of a white van which may have been involved in the shooting.
No one has been arrested.
Underwood, who was black, and the other officer were contracted security officers employed by the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Protective Service.
They were monitoring a nearby protest.
The FBI released images of this white van which may have been involved in the shooting of Dave Patrick Underwood
Underwood was the brother of Angela Underwood Jacobs, recently a Republican candidate to fill a vacant congressional seat north of Los Angeles.
'When someone targets a police officer or a police station with an intention to do harm and intimidate — that is an act of domestic terrorism,' Department of Homeland Security Acting Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli said at a Washington, D.C., news conference on the day after the shooting.
The shooting of Gutzwiller on Saturday has shocked Ben Lomond, a town of about 6,000 people tucked up in the Santa Cruz mountains.
Gutzwiller 'was a beloved figure here at the sheriff's office,' the sheriff said.
'Damon showed up today to do his job, to keep this community safe, and his life was taken needlessly,' a visibly shaken Hart said.
California Governor Gavin Newsom extended condolences to Gutzwiller's family and ordered flags at the Capitol to be flown at half-staff in honor of the slain deputy.
'He will be remembered as a hero who devoted his life to protecting the community and as a loving husband and father,' Newsom said in a statement.
Resident Kathy Crocker brought a bouquet to the sheriff´s office as Hart gave a news conference about the shootings.
'It just breaks my heart that this keeps happening,' she said, as teary-eyed deputies entered the building.
Suspect in ambush shooting which left one deputy dead and two more injured is revealed to be active-duty Air Force sergeant - as FBI investigate link to deadly drive-by attack on a federal officer a week earlier
![Suspect in ambush shooting which left one deputy dead and two more injured is revealed to be active-duty Air Force sergeant - as FBI investigate link to deadly drive-by attack on a federal officer a week earlier]()
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June 08, 2020
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