Man killed after shooting at deputies 50 times
A man killed after a shootout with Sonoma County sheriff’s deputies early Monday fired more than 50 shots before being hit with three bullets and dying after a collision that ended the incident, officials said.
Santa Rosa police detectives, who are investigating the shootout in unincorporated Sonoma County, said the incident started shortly after midnight when 911 dispatchers received a call of a man acting in a threatening way outside of La Hacienda del Toro, a restaurant and nightclub at Stony Point and Todd roads.
Witnesses described the suspect, later identified as Jose Luis Villasenor Cervantes, 58, and said that he fled the scene in a white four-door vehicle. A deputy responding to the scene spotted Cervantes’ car, which he said made a U-turn on Todd Road then began spinning in circles.
The deputy tried to pull Cervantes over in a parking lot at Todd Road and Standish Avenue, but before he could even put the car in park, investigators said, Cervantes emerged from his vehicle and began shooting at the deputy with an AK-47-style assault weapon.
The deputy moved his patrol car to another part of the parking lot and took cover behind it, police said. He radioed dispatchers to report shots fired and call for assistance. An undisclosed number of other deputies rushed to the scene, according to the report.
Cervantes returned to his car and began rummaging through the area around the passenger seat when deputies issued unspecified commands, according to the report. Cervantes got out of the car and fired at the four deputies, who returned fire. Three were hit and injured, police said.
Cervantes then climbed back into his car and drove back to the La Hacienda del Toro parking lot, police said. As he started to climb out of the car, deputies again issued commands to Cervantes. When he failed to follow them, a deputy fired one shot at Cervantes. It is unclear whether he was hit.
Cervantes got back in the car and drove out of the parking lot with deputies in pursuit, police said. Cervantes’ car collided head-on with a sheriff ’s office patrol car and rolled to a stop. Deputies fired several shots at Cervantes after the crash.
Other deputies arrived at the scene, pulled Cervantes from the vehicle and put him in handcuffs. Medics were called to treat Cervantes and four injured officers, who were treated by deputies and Santa Rosa police until they arrived.
Cervantes was declared dead by medical personnel at the scene at about 12:30 a.m. — about 10 minutes after the collision and 20 minutes after the initial 911 call.
An autopsy by the Marin County coroner found Cervantes suffered three nonfatal gunshot wounds as well as two lacerations to his heart from bluntforce trauma likely caused by the collision. He also suffered chest injuries and three broken ribs, the autopsy found. The cause of death is still pending while the coroner awaits toxicology results.
Four deputies were injured in the incident: one with a laceration to his left hand requiring 15 stitches; one with shrapnel wounds to her right hand; one with projectile wounds to his lower right leg, possibly from a gunshot; and one who is hospitalized with undisclosed injuries and has been unable to be interviewed by detectives, police said.
Detectives said that Cervantes fired more than 50 shots, though the exact number has not been determined. Santa Rosa police detectives are continuing their investigation.