Man Wanted for Firing at Sacramento Cop Killed in Standoff
SACRAMENTO (AP) — A man wanted on suspicion of firing at a Sacramento police sergeant nearly a month ago was shot and killed during a standoff with officers, authorities confirmed Thursday.
The Sacramento County coroner's office identified the man as 50-year-old Albert Wheeler. Police had been looking for Wheeler after he tried to shoot a police sergeant outside a home in north Sacramento on Aug. 4.
\Police said officers were responding to a call from Wheeler's family that he had a gun and was threatening to kill himself. When they arrived, they spotted Wheeler driving a truck in the area and tried to pull him over, but he led them on a chase through the neighborhood.
Police said Wheeler looped back to the house and fired several rounds at the sergeant who went to check on the family, striking his patrol car twice, before speeding away.
The truck was found abandoned the next day, prompting the California Highway Patrol to activate a "Blue Alert" seeking tips to find the man suspected of attacking a police officer. Federal authorities offered a $5,000 reward for his capture.
On Tuesday, detectives tracked Wheeler to a house a few miles from where he fired at the sergeant, police said in a statement. During a three-hour standoff, Wheeler told negotiators trying to convince him by phone to surrender that he refused to go back to prison, the statement said.
A police helicopter then spotted Wheeler run out of the back of the house and hop over a fence. Police saw that he was armed with a semi-automatic handgun, and an officer shot several rounds at him, the statement said.
He died at the scene. The county district attorney's office is assisting in the investigation of the shooting, and video and audio of the encounter will be released within 30 days, police said.
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