Suspect dies, officers shot in gunfight

One man died and four deputies were injured after a vehicle chase and a deluge of gunfire early Monday in the Santa Rosa area.

The man, who has not yet been identified, was pronounced dead at the scene. His death followed an exchange of gunfire after he crashed his car along Stony Point Road near Butler Avenue.

His vehicle and at least one Sonoma County Sheriff's Office patrol vehicle smashed through a wooden fence in front of a gated residence. Both the suspect and the deputies fired shots in the final exchange, Santa Rosa Police Department Sgt. Patricia Seffens said late Monday afternoon, but the department is still investigating who shot first or how many rounds were fired.

Two nearby residents said they heard dozens of shots fired over the course of the chase, describing the booms of what sounded like a high-caliber rifle answered by the pop of pistol fire.

One deputy was shot in the leg, two deputies injured their hands and the fourth deputy had “a significant head injury,” according to the sheriff's office. He remained in critical condition Monday evening.

Police said the chase began with a 911 call around 12:10 a.m. The caller reported a man was brandishing a rifle near Stony Point and Todd Road and said he was possibly driving a white sedan. A deputy found the vehicle driving on Todd Road.

The man stopped his car near Todd Road and Standish Avenue and shot at the deputies, who then returned fire, Deputy Rob Dillion said Monday morning. The man then got back into the sedan and drove away, Dillion said, and it's possible the man continued shooting as he fled.

“Our deputies were stopped when they fired their weapons,” Dillion said. “It's unclear if the suspect fired from a moving car but the majority of the gunfire from the suspect was when he was stopped.”

The Santa Rosa Police Department is handling the investigation per Sonoma County's critical incident protocol, which requires an agency other than the one involved to conduct the criminal investigation.

The department issued a statement Monday evening saying it could not confirm if both the suspect and deputy fired shots during the first exchange.

Police detectives were still investigating how many exchanges of gunfire there was and where they occurred during the chase, Seffens said, with investigators working a sprawling crime scene that spanned nearly 2 miles.

Luke Kampmann, a longtime resident of that stretch of Stony Point Road, said he woke up in the night to the sounds of gunfire. He heard a flurry of what sounded like at least 20 to 30 rifle shots, he said, and then answering fire from a weapon that sounded smaller caliber, like a pistol.

After a pause that may have lasted minutes, Kampmann said, he heard a second exchange similar to the first — a series of deeper sounding shots in succession, followed by return fire.

Kampmann, who lives next door to where the vehicles eventually crashed, said he emerged from his house after the gunfire and saw three cars — what appeared to be two patrol vehicles and the suspect's vehicle — in front of the house next door.

Kampmann said he did not see the crash.