Hayward Police Sergeant Shot Dead During Traffic Stop, 21-Year-Old Arrested
HAYWARD (CBS SF) -- A Hayward police officer was shot dead during a traffic stop Wednesday morning. Authorities said a 21-year-old man has been arrested in the case.
The officer, Sgt. Scott Lunger, was killed by an occupant of a vehicle he had stopped.
"This is a very devastating and dark day for the community and the Hayward Police Department," said Capt. Mark Koller.
The shooting happened around 3:15 a.m near Myrtle and Lion streets in Hayward.
At 3 a.m., neighbors said they heard tires screeching as if donuts were being spun.
Lunger stopped a vehicle he observed driving erratically, according to police.
His partner radioed that shots had been fired and that an officer was injured. The partner was not injured.
Lunger was taken to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, California, where he later died.
The suspect fled the scene reportedly with bullet holes in the side of the vehicle.
A white Chevy Silverado pickup truck matching the suspect vehicle description was apparently found in Oakland at 98th and Edes avenues abandoned in the middle of the intersection with four bullet holes.
According to authorities, 21-year-old Mark Estrada of Oakland has been arrested in the shooting. Estrada is in the hospital with gunshot wounds and is not cooperating with investigators, authorities said.
Lunger, 48, was on the force for 15 years and became a sergeant in 2009. He was on the gang and the SWAT units.
"He was an ideal police officer," Koller said.
Lunger is from Brentwood, California and has two older daughters.
Richmond Police Chief Chris Magnus, Contra Costa CHP and the Hayward Fire Department tweeted their condolences.
Lunger is the second San Francisco Bay Area police officer killed in the line of duty this year.
In March San Jose Officer Michael Johnson was shot and killed while checking on a mentally ill man who had threated to shoot himself and kill his wife. The man, 57-year-old Scott Dunham fired the fatal bullet. He was also shot and killed that day though he may have shot himself.
Lunger is the fifth Hayward police officer to die in the line of duty. The last officer to be killed in the line of duty was Officer Benjamin Worcester in 1987. Police said Worcester was fatally stabbed while investigating a suspicious person a couple blocks from the police station.
