PD: Officers 'ambushed' by suspect during deadly shooting at north Sacramento home
Sacramento police release a body camera video of shooting
Updated: 7:41 PM PDT Jun 23, 2019
WHO WANTED -- YOU WERE ESCORTING THAT WOMAN WHO WANTED HER BELONGINGS FROM THE PROPERTY. THE PROPERTY FRONTS A MAIN STREET ALSO AN ALLEY. THE MAIN HOUSE IS WHERE THE OFFICERS APPROACHED FIRST. THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO GET INSIDE THE HOME. KNOWING CAME TO THE DOOR TO ANSWER. THE WOMAN SAID SHE NEEDED TO GET HER PERSONAL ITEMS FROM THE REAR ATTACHED GARAGE. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED. THIS IS BODY CAM FOOTAGE FROM ONE OF THE FIRST OFFICERS HEADED INSIDE. AS THEY ENTERED THE BUILDING, SHOTS WERE FIRED COMING FROM THE MAIN HOUSE. WE KNOW THAT THE SUSPECT CONTINUE TO SHOOT FOR FOUR HOURS. HE HAD FOR WEAPONS TO TEACH A THAT UNIT. TWO ASSAULT RIFLE'S, A SHOTGUN, AND ANGER. THE OFFICER WHO WAS SHOT WAS LYING ON THE GROUND IN THE YARD BETWEEN THE TWO HOUSES. THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF SPECULATION AS TO WHETHER IT WOULD BE THE RIGHT THING TO DO TO WAIT FOR AN ARMORED VEHICLE. THIS IS WHAT THE POLICE CHIEF HAD TO SAY. >> OFFICER GILETS JAUNES THE SQUAD CAR WITH BALLISTIC DOORS. THIS PROTECTION DOES NOT PROTECT AGAINST HIGH-POWERED RIFLE ROUNDS. IF THEY UTILIZED THEIR BULLET-PROOF VEST OR THEIR SHIELDS, THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN KILLED. THESE PIECES OF EQUIPMENT TO NOT PROTECT AGAINST HIGH-POWERED RIFLE ROUNDS. THIS WAS AN AMBUSH STYLE ATTACK OF SACRAMENTO POLICE OFFICERS THAT LASTED FOR HOURS. UNDER THE MOST DANGEROUS AND TRYING CIRCUMSTANCES, OUR OFFICERS PERFORMED ADMIRABLY. THE BEST PROOF WE HAVE THAT THIS IS THE CASE IS BY KNOWING THAT NO ADDITIONAL OFFICERS WERE KILLED BY THE SUSPECT. WALTER: ONCE THE ARMORED VEHICLE PULLED UP TO THE SEEING, IT SUSTAINED DAMAGE. OFFICERS WERE ABLE TO GET OFFICER OF O'SULLIVAN AND CARRIED HER DOWN THE BACK ALLEY TO A WAITING SQUAD CAR, WHERE SHE WAS RUSHED TO THE HOSPITAL. THE SACRAMENTO POLICE DEPARTMENT ALSO SAYING THAT OFFICER OF O'SULLIVAN WAS SHOT NUMEROUS TIMES.
Sacramento police released a clip of body camera video Friday night of the deadly shooting of Officer Tara O'Sullivan.O'Sullivan, 26, died Wednesday night after being taken to UC Davis Medical Center. She was responding to a disturbance at a north Sacramento home when suspect Adel Sambrano Ramos, 45, opened fire, police said.On Friday, Sacramento police released updated information about how the shooting unfolded after showing the body camera video.Officers arrived around 5:40 p.m. Wednesday at a home in the 200 block of Redwood Avenue, near Edgewood Drive, to help a woman gather her belongings, police said. When they reached the property, the woman told officers that she needed to get items from a detached garage. Police said officers tried to enter the main house on the property, but it was boarded up and secured. They did not enter the main home on the property. Five officers, including O'Sullivan, then made a plan to go and check out the garage before letting the woman enter it to gather her belongings. The body camera video shows what happened next. While approaching the garage around 6:10 p.m., police said Ramos opened fire on the officers from rear while he was inside the main home.WARNING: The video below may be graphic for some:The body camera video, which was about 2 minutes long, shows an officer approaching the detached garage. The officer is heard saying, "you're not under arrest, you're not in trouble," while knocking on the door. In the video, as the officer entered the garage, gunfire erupted. Numerous shots were fired as the officer is seen running away from the scene.The officer is heard saying, "officer down, officer down," as he takes cover, the video shows. O'Sullivan was shot during the barrage of gunfire and went down in the yard. Police said she was shot multiple times by rifle rounds and "one injury was non-survivable.""The officers were essentially ambushed by the suspect, and the result was him murdering one of our community's police officers," Police Chief Daniel Hahn said. Police said the other officers were forced to take cover and couldn't get to O'Sullivan. The woman was able to get away safely, police said.An armored vehicle was called to the scene to help get O'Sullivan and arrived around 6:50 p.m. Police said the armored vehicle got onto the property via an alley behind the property.As the armored vehicle drove on to the yard, Ramos began shooting, eventually disabling it. Police said officers were close enough to O'Sullivan to grab her and run into the alley at 6:59 p.m.. She was then put into a squad car and taken to the hospital.O'Sullivan underwent surgery and was later pronounced dead, police said."I truly believe if officers utilized the equipment they had at the time, prior to retrieving the armored vehicle, we would have additional officers murdered on that day," Hahn said. "If officers utilized the squad car, with ballistic doors, this protection does not protect against high-powered rifle rounds -- those officers would have surely been killed. If officers utilized their bullet-proof vests or their hand-held ballistic shields, they would have been killed. These pieces of equipment do not protect against high-powered rifle rounds."Police said after opening fire, Ramos barricaded himself inside the main home. Officers then set up a perimeter around the house, prompting an hourslong standoff in the neighborhood.Police said between about 6:10 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., the suspect opened fire 30 times. Several times during the standoff, officers returned fire."Throughout much of this incident, from the first time the suspect shot at our officers -- murdering Officer O'Sullivan -- at 6:10 p.m., he continued to fire at officers for over four hours," Hahn said. "He typically shot rounds at officers every time he observed any sort of moment. He fired at the armored cars and officers multiple times."Ramos eventually surrendered to officers around 2 a.m. Thursday. Police said he was not injured during the incident.During the search of the property Thursday and Friday, investigators found four firearms -- two assault rifles, one handgun and one shotgun -- strategically placed around the main home, police said. The suspect used all four guns during the hourslong standoff, investigators said. When they searched the detached garage, they found two other assault rifles."It is clear by the suspect's actions he was intent on murdering additional officers and was taking action to do just that, repeatedly shooting throughout much of the incident," Hahn said. "We now know that he had multiple weapons in multiple buildings on the property -- both handgun and rifles, along with numerous rounds of ammunition."Hahn said the investigation into the shooting is ongoing. Officers are expected to be at the scene through the weekend."This was an ambush-style attack on Sacramento police officers that lasted for hours. Under the most dangerous and trying circumstances, our officers performed admirably," Hahn said. "The best proof we have this is the case is by knowing no additional officers were killed by the suspect, and no community members were injured or killed by the suspect. The facts as we know them today, that is amazing, because the suspect was truly intent on harming additional people."
Sacramento police released a clip of body camera video Friday night of the deadly shooting of Officer Tara O'Sullivan.
O'Sullivan, 26, died Wednesday night after being taken to UC Davis Medical Center. She was responding to a disturbance at a north Sacramento home when suspect Adel Sambrano Ramos, 45, opened fire, police said.
On Friday, Sacramento police released updated information about how the shooting unfolded after showing the body camera video.
Officers arrived around 5:40 p.m. Wednesday at a home in the 200 block of Redwood Avenue, near Edgewood Drive, to help a woman gather her belongings, police said. When they reached the property, the woman told officers that she needed to get items from a detached garage. Police said officers tried to enter the main house on the property, but it was boarded up and secured. They did not enter the main home on the property.
Sacramento Police Department
Officer Tara O'Sullivan
Five officers, including O'Sullivan, then made a plan to go and check out the garage before letting the woman enter it to gather her belongings. The body camera video shows what happened next. While approaching the garage around 6:10 p.m., police said Ramos opened fire on the officers from rear while he was inside the main home.
WARNING: The video below may be graphic for some:
The body camera video, which was about 2 minutes long, shows an officer approaching the detached garage. The officer is heard saying, "you're not under arrest, you're not in trouble," while knocking on the door.
In the video, as the officer entered the garage, gunfire erupted. Numerous shots were fired as the officer is seen running away from the scene.
The officer is heard saying, "officer down, officer down," as he takes cover, the video shows.
O'Sullivan was shot during the barrage of gunfire and went down in the yard. Police said she was shot multiple times by rifle rounds and "one injury was non-survivable."
"The officers were essentially ambushed by the suspect, and the result was him murdering one of our community's police officers," Police Chief Daniel Hahn said.
Sacramento Police Department and KCRA 3
Police said the other officers were forced to take cover and couldn't get to O'Sullivan. The woman was able to get away safely, police said.
An armored vehicle was called to the scene to help get O'Sullivan and arrived around 6:50 p.m. Police said the armored vehicle got onto the property via an alley behind the property.
As the armored vehicle drove on to the yard, Ramos began shooting, eventually disabling it. Police said officers were close enough to O'Sullivan to grab her and run into the alley at 6:59 p.m.. She was then put into a squad car and taken to the hospital.
O'Sullivan underwent surgery and was later pronounced dead, police said.
"I truly believe if officers utilized the equipment they had at the time, prior to retrieving the armored vehicle, we would have additional officers murdered on that day," Hahn said. "If officers utilized the squad car, with ballistic doors, this protection does not protect against high-powered rifle rounds -- those officers would have surely been killed. If officers utilized their bullet-proof vests or their hand-held ballistic shields, they would have been killed. These pieces of equipment do not protect against high-powered rifle rounds."
Police said after opening fire, Ramos barricaded himself inside the main home. Officers then set up a perimeter around the house, prompting an hourslong standoff in the neighborhood.
Police said between about 6:10 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., the suspect opened fire 30 times. Several times during the standoff, officers returned fire.
"Throughout much of this incident, from the first time the suspect shot at our officers -- murdering Officer O'Sullivan -- at 6:10 p.m., he continued to fire at officers for over four hours," Hahn said. "He typically shot rounds at officers every time he observed any sort of moment. He fired at the armored cars and officers multiple times."
Ramos eventually surrendered to officers around 2 a.m. Thursday. Police said he was not injured during the incident.
Adel Sambrano Ramos, 45
During the search of the property Thursday and Friday, investigators found four firearms -- two assault rifles, one handgun and one shotgun -- strategically placed around the main home, police said. The suspect used all four guns during the hourslong standoff, investigators said. When they searched the detached garage, they found two other assault rifles.
"It is clear by the suspect's actions he was intent on murdering additional officers and was taking action to do just that, repeatedly shooting throughout much of the incident," Hahn said. "We now know that he had multiple weapons in multiple buildings on the property -- both handgun and rifles, along with numerous rounds of ammunition."
Hahn said the investigation into the shooting is ongoing. Officers are expected to be at the scene through the weekend.
"This was an ambush-style attack on Sacramento police officers that lasted for hours. Under the most dangerous and trying circumstances, our officers performed admirably," Hahn said. "The best proof we have this is the case is by knowing no additional officers were killed by the suspect, and no community members were injured or killed by the suspect. The facts as we know them today, that is amazing, because the suspect was truly intent on harming additional people."