DAVIS — Natalie Corona was ambushed by a gunman who rode up on a bicycle, opened fire as the rookie Davis police officer stood on the street investigating a car crash — and then unloaded his weapon on her after she collapsed, officials said Friday. The brutal attack on Thursday night sent shock waves through the college town, leaving many grieving residents to wonder what could have provoked the violence that resulted in the city’s first on-duty officer death in nearly 60 years. After shooting Corona, the gunman reloaded his semiautomatic pistol and began shooting indiscriminately around Fifth and D streets in downtown Davis. Bullets hit a fire truck that had arrived on the scene, a passing bus and a woman’s backpack, Police Chief Darren Pytel said at a news conference Friday night. Then, the gunman shot at the firefighter who emerged from the fire truck — striking the emergency responder’s boot but not injuring him. The suspect dropped his backpack at the scene then fled — back to his home at Fifth and E streets. There, Pytel said, he acted as if nothing had happened, even joining his roommate outside to watch police swarm the area as they hunted for the shooter. Ultimately, the backpack led police to the blue and white house, where the suspect barricaded himself. With police surrounding the home, the suspect, wearing a bulletproof vest, emerged, yelled something at the officers and then took refuge in the house again. He emerged a second time — this time with a gun — before retreating indoors. No shots were fired, Pytel said. Ultimately, officers sent in a robot to find the suspect dead after hearing a gunshot inside the home. The incident began at 6:45 p.m. Thursday as Corona responded to a three-car crash. She was there for maybe two minutes when the gunman rode up on a bicycle and shot her in the neck, Pytel said. “This clearly looks to us like an ambush,” Pytel said. “Based on how dark it was, we are speculating that she never even saw him.” Witnesses told detectives that Corona was handing over a motorist’s driver’s license when the gunman opened fire. Her uniform was outfitted with a body camera, but Pytel said he did not know whether Corona had activated it. Her patrol car’s camera, however, captured a “significant amount of video” that had not yet been reviewed. Pytel said officials weren’t ready to release the suspect’s name and had no clues as to why he attacked Corona. Corona graduated from the police academy six months ago and finished field training two weeks ago, being cleared to work solo as a patrol officer. “She died with honor and respect doing what she wanted to do,” said Robert Corona, the officer’s 43-year-old cousin. “Heaven only knows why so quickly, but I know she’s in a special place in heaven right now.” Davis residents flocked to the 60-person Police Department’s headquarters Friday to leave bouquets of white roses, tulips and carnations. A pink teddy bear and boxes of bagels and pastries were also left outside the department’s doors. “She was the purest soul I have ever known,” said Amy Juarez, a spokeswoman for the Davis Police Department. “She was a baby. We were a department full of proud moms and dads.” Corona knew from a young age she wanted to be a police officer. She wanted to follow in the footsteps of her father, Merced Corona, a 26-year veteran of the Colusa County Sheriff’s Department. When she graduated from the police academy in July, he was there to pin the badge on her vest. “She was well-known here in the department,” said Lt. Mark Contreras, of the Sheriff’s Department. “It’s tough. It’s going to take a while for everyone to get over this one.” The rookie officer started volunteering at the Davis Police Department when she was 18. Her colleagues often teased her that she needed to get a date, otherwise she’d end up married to the job, Juarez said. Gov. Gavin Newsom released a statement Friday morning saying he and his wife were “terribly saddened” by Corona’s death. “We join all Californians in mourning the loss of this courageous officer and extend our deepest condolences to Officer Corona’s family, friends and co-workers,” Newsom said. People left bouquets of flowers around the crime scene Friday. Some tied blue ribbons around nearby tree trunks, and a “thin blue line” flag was placed not far from where Corona was shot. A sign reading “Honor Natalie Corona End of Watch 1/10/2019” surrounded by American flags was placed at the entrance to downtown at Richards Boulevard and Olive Drive. Davis, a college town west of Sacramento, has a population of nearly 65,000 that balloons when UC Davis is in session. The quaint city is known for its street festivals, bike lanes and a Central Park that holds farmers’ markets twice a week. Mayor Brett Lee said in a statement that the “entire City Council is grief-stricken and heartbroken at this senseless loss of life.” Cheryl Beck, a 72-year-old Davis resident, choked back tears and her body shook as she stood near the Police Department memorial. “I think I met Officer Corona at the park,” she said. “Was she an officer that cleaned up graffiti before?” “Yes, she was,” Juarez said, placing a hand on Beck’s shoulder. The two women reminisced about Corona’s smile and caring attitude in responding to incidents across the city. “She never ever was without a smile, and she never had a bad word — no matter how horrible the situation or the person she was dealing with,” Juarez said, her eyes filling with tears. Robert Corona recalled a family party from several years ago when his cousin dressed up as a cop — long before she actually became one — and performed with her family the popular song “Gangnam Style” by South Korean musician Psy, in a lip-sync battle. “She was so full of life,” he said. “She lit up the room.” Corona was pronounced dead at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento where she had been rushed after the shooting. Besides her father, she is survived by mother, Lupe Corona, and sister Jackie Corona. The last fatal shooting of a Davis police officer in the line of duty was nearly 60 years ago, when 23-year-old Officer Douglas Cantrill was killed Sept. 7, 1959. He was gunned down outside the Police Department after a suspect grabbed his firearm. Word of Corona’s death quickly rippled through the department and neighboring law enforcement agencies. Juarez said she was immediately alerted of the shooting with a message Thursday night that read “shots fired” and “officer down,” but she had no idea it was Corona. “I wasn’t quite prepared for who,” Juarez said. “None of us would have expected this. Never in a million years would you expect this to happen to your department.” Corona graduated from the police academy in July. She started as a community services officer in Davis in 2016. “She had a personality that was just energizing,” Pytel said. “She was the most friendly, outgoing, and just wanted to be everybody’s friend — and she was.” She grew up in Arbuckle (Colusa County) and attended schools in the Pierce Joint Unified School District from kindergarten through graduation. “She was an amazing young woman who was always joyful and smiling,” said Carol Geyer, the district superintendent, in an email to The Chronicle. “She put forth 100 percent effort in all that she did.” Davis police Lt. Paul Doroshov said the department is “not really used to” experiencing tragedies like deaths in the line of duty. “Last night was pretty taxing and chaotic for all the officers here.” “We are a small agency. It’s like a family,” Doroshov said. San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Lauren Hernandez contributed to this report Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani<doc-sep>The gunman who fatally shot Davis Police Officer Natalie Corona in an ambush before taking his own life was identified Saturday as Kevin Douglas Limbaugh, 48, of Davis, according to the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office. Limbaugh had been involved in a fight in September with a co-worker at Cache Creek Casino Resort, about 40 miles northwest of Sacramento, according to police and court records. Late Saturday, the resort emailed a statement confirming that Limbaugh had been an employee there and “was involved in an altercation.” “The incident was reported to the Sheriff’s Office and the suspect’s employment ended immediately thereafter,” according to the email from resort spokesman Mike Traum. “We cannot offer any further details on this personnel matter.” Advertisement Limbaugh had been involved in a fight in September with a co-worker at Cache Creek Casino Resort, about 40 miles northwest of Sacramento, according to police and court records. (Yolo County Sheriff’s Office) The Yolo County district attorney’s office had charged Limbaugh with a felony but later reduced it to a misdemeanor as part of a plea deal in October. Limbaugh agreed to surrender firearms in his possession, said Lt. Paul Doroshov of the Davis Police Department. In November, Limbaugh was ordered to turn in a black .223 Bushmaster AR-15 semiautomatic rifle. Doroshov said Limbaugh went to the station to drop off the firearm. Before the fight in September, his ex-girlfriend had called police about Limbaugh harassing her. Doroshov said investigators found two semiautomatic handguns at Limbaugh’s apartment and were trying to determine how he obtained them. Investigators also found a letter on his bed that accused Davis police of using “sonic waves meant to keep dogs from barking” against him. In the letter, Limbaugh said he notified internal affairs, the media and the FBI. “I did my best to appease them, but they have continued for years and I can’t live this way anymore,” the letter read in part. Advertisement Doroshov said Limbaugh did not make any formal complaints with the Police Department. Investigators found a letter on LImbaugh’s bed that accused Davis police of using “sonic waves meant to keep dogs from barking” against him. In the letter, Limbaugh said he notified internal affairs, the media and the FBI. (Davis Police Department) On Thursday evening, Corona, 22, had responded to a crash involving three vehicles at 5th and D streets, taking information from drivers, when witnesses said a man rolled up on a bicycle and began to shoot at Corona. She was struck multiple times and died at UC Davis Medical Center. Police Chief Darren Pytel described the shooting as an ambush. Advertisement Pytel said that after shooting Corona, the gunman reloaded and began shooting in another direction, hitting a firetruck, a house, a bus and a backpack being worn by a person. After reloading a second time, the gunman approached a fire rescue squad, prompting a firefighter to run. The suspect fired, and a bullet struck the firefighter’s boot, he said. After firing more shots, the gunman fled, eventually barricading himself in his nearby apartment and fatally shooting himself. Corona started at the Davis Police Department as a part-time employee in 2016, when she was a junior college student. The daughter of a retired Colusa County sheriff’s deputy, she finished her training in December and had been on the job for a few weeks. ruben.vives@latimes.com Advertisement For more Southern California news, follow @latvives on Twitter.<doc-sep>
A rookie 22-year-old police officer who had just completed field training before Christmas was fatally shot while she responded to a car crash in downtown Davis, Calif., the city’s police chief said. The suspected gunman was found dead inside a home about a block away from the shooting, police said in a statement at around 1:30 a.m. Friday, “with what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.” Davis Police Officer Natalie Corona was responding to a crash involving three vehicles at 5th and D streets around 6:45 p.m. Thursday when gunshots were fired and she was hit, Police Chief Darren Pytel told reporters at a televised news conference after midnight. Corona was the only officer at the scene, less than a block from the city’s main fire station. She was rushed by firefighters to UC Davis Medical Center but “they weren’t able to save her,” Pytel said. Pictures in the News | Friday Jan. 11, 2019 » The search for the gunman was focused about a block away from the shooting, around 5th and E streets. The suspect was described as a man in his 20s with an average build, wearing a baseball cap, black jacket and black tactical boots, police said. It was not immediately clear if the gunman had been involved in the crash or had walked up to the scene before shooting the officer, Pytel said. “We’re just absolutely devastated,” Pytel said. The last time a police officer died in the line of duty in Davis, a city of 69,000 people a 5-mile drive west of Sacramento, was in 1959. . (Los Angeles Times) Pytel said Corona started her career in the police department as a part-time employee and volunteer. She was a hard worker, Pytel said, and was so enthusiastic about her job that when the department ran out of funding for her position, she came in anyway as a full-time volunteer until she went into the academy. “Natalie was just full of life and full of energy and just an absolute pleasure to be around. … She just worked like you can’t believe,” Pytel said, with colleagues describing her as a daughter, a friend “and a sister we all wanted.” Corona completed training at the academy in July. She completed the Davis Police Department’s six-month field-training program just before Christmas, and had been out on her own as an officer for just a couple of weeks. The investigation of the shooting is being conducted by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department. Corona is survived by her parents. The fatal shooting comes less than a month after another police officer died in the line of duty, about 90 miles south of Davis in the city of Newman, which is also in the Central Valley. Cpl. Ronil Singh, 33, was shot after he pulled over a vehicle for a traffic stop, believing the driver to be drunk, police said. Authorities said they have filed a murder charge against Gustavo Perez Arriaga, 32, a Mexican national who is living in the country illegally, has known gang ties and has been arrested twice on suspicion of driving under the influence. laura.newberry@latimes.com | Twitter: @LauraMNewberry