Placer County Sheriff Press Conference Transcript On Death Of Det. Michael Davis Jr.
Today Det. Michael David Davis Jr, veteran officer and detective of the Placer County Sheriff's Department, was killed in the line of duty in Auburn.
Michael was 42 years old. He'd have been 43 next Wednesday.
He first came to the sheriff's department as a reserve deputy sheriff in 1996. He then became a police officer with the city of Auburn in 1996, and he came to the sheriff's department in 1999—15 years ago. He served his last 10 years as a homicide investigator.
He leaves behind a wife and four children. Amazingly, Michael's father, Michael David Davis Sr., was a Riverside County deputy sheriff, and he was killed in the line of duty on Oct. 24, 1988—exactly 26 years ago today.
Deputy sheriff Jeff Davis was also shot in the arm during this assault. He has been treated and released from the hospital, and he is expected to recover. Jeff has been with the sheriff's department 17 years.
I thank you again for your patience, your kindness. This is a very difficult day for all local law enforcement, and we spent a lot of time with the families before I came here to confirm what you already know and to give you more details.
I don't have a lot of details on the events that led up to this. They are currently under investigation, and all that I can assure you is the scene was incredibly chaotic. And working with Sacramento County and Placer County sheriff's Office, as well as our allied agencies, we will piece this together over the coming days and weeks and keep you appraised of what we've learned.
The suspect is in custody, as you know. I think there are those people who would say, "You know what, I wished you'd killed him." No. That's not who we are. We are not him. We did our job. I'm incredibly proud of the men, women who go out there every day and put their lives on the line. And today this organization, this family has suffered a horrific loss. I give my heartfelt thanks to all those who have reached out to us, and again the media who are respectfully allowing us to work with our families in this time of sadness and madness.
Thank you very much, I appreciate it.