A rookie California police officer was fatally shot Thursday night when a suspect at an accident scene opened fire, the Sacramento Bee reported.
Davis police Officer Natalie Corona, 22, who graduated from a training academy and completed her field training just before Christmas, had responded to a three-car crash when she was shot, the newspaper reported.
Corona was sworn in as an officer two weeks ago, KOVR reported. Her father, Merced Corona, served 26 years as a Colusa County Sheriff's deputy, the Bee reported.
“She was a rising star in the department,” Davis police Chief Darren Pytel said in a news conference late Thursday. “She just worked like you can’t believe.”
Corona was the first Davis police officer killed in the line of duty since Douglas Cantrill was gunned down Sept. 7, 1959, the Bee reported.
Police surrounded a home several blocks from the shooting scene and tried to coax the man out of the building, the newspaper reported.
At 1:30 a.m. Friday, police announced that the shooter had been found dead from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, KOVR reported.
Davis police did not identify the suspect, other than to describe him as a white male in his 20s with an average build and wearing a baseball cap, black jacket and black tactical boots, the Bee reported.
Corona started with the Davis Police Department as a community service officer, the Bee reported. She was sworn into the department on Aug. 2 and her father pinned her badge, according to the Williams Pioneer.
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