Suspect in Sacramento Police Officer Killing Had History of Violence

Updated 5:15 p.m.

A man suspected of fatally shooting a Sacramento police officer responding to a domestic violence call surrendered after an eight-hour standoff in which he fired his rifle on and off, preventing officers from getting to their colleague as she lay wounded for nearly an hour, authorities said Thursday.

The suspect, Adel Sambrano Ramos, 45, was taken into custody at about 2 a.m., and investigators were gathering evidence at the home where Officer Tara O’Sullivan, 26, was shot Wednesday, the Sacramento Police Department said in a statement. Homes around the area were evacuated and it wasn’t until about 4:30 p.m. Thursday that residents were allowed to return.

Ramos was booked on charges relating to the killing of O’Sullivan, police said.

“It is with a broken heart that we have to share with all of you that earlier today we lost one of our own,” the department said in a tweet early Thursday morning. “She gave her young life while protecting our community.”

O’Sullivan died at UC Davis Medical Center hours after the gunman shot her, Deputy Chief Dave Peletta told reporters. It has been 20 years since a Sacramento police officer was killed while on duty.

“The men and women of our department will continue to do our jobs to protect the community. And we will draw from the strength and courage of Tara,” Peletta said. “Our hearts are with Tara’s family whose pain can hardly be imagined.”

The suspect has a history of violence. Ramos was charged with misdemeanor battery of a minor in 2018 in a case that is currently active and he pleaded guilty to battery of a spouse in 1998, said Kim Pedersen, a Sacramento Superior Court spokeswoman. His arraignment is scheduled for Monday afternoon in the shooting of the officer.

His brother, Orlando Ramos, told The Associated Press that Adel Ramos was estranged from the family, had a history of domestic violence and drug abuse, and had been in and out of jail for years. He said he hopes his older brother spends the rest of his life in prison.

Peletta said O’Sullivan was with another officer when she was shot just before 6 p.m. Wednesday. When she was wounded, she had been helping a woman collect her belongings to leave a home, Sgt. Vance Chandler said. The other woman was not hurt, and the relationship between that woman and the gunman was not immediately known.

O’Sullivan was wounded while she was in a backyard and officers could not reach her for about 45 minutes after she was shot because the gunman kept firing, Chandler said.

“Our officers maintained cover in safe positions until we were able to get an armored vehicle in the area,” he said.

Taking 45 minutes to reach a wounded officer is “unacceptable,” Stephen Nasta, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, told AP.

If officers couldn’t immediately get an armored police vehicle to the scene, he said, they should have commandeered a bus or heavy construction equipment.

“If there’s somebody shot, lying on the ground, you have to do everything you can,” Nasta said.

Heavily armed police from several agencies swarmed the residential neighborhood while the standoff was underway, and residents were told to stay away from the area.

According to city records, O’Sullivan had been working for the city since January 2018, The Sacramento Bee reported. She was part of the first class of graduates of Sacramento State’s Law Enforcement Candidate Scholars’ Program in 2017 and went on to the Sacramento Police Academy.

“We lost a Hornet. We lost a hero. We lost a leader,” said Dr. Robert S. Nelsen, president of California State University, Sacramento. “She had a big heart, a strong mind, a great personality. She made you smile. She is exactly what we need in the police force.”

Nelsen said a scholarship would be created in O’Sullivan’s honor.

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said the city is grieving.

“Tara O’Sullivan died helping another woman escape domestic violence,” he said. “She embodied the spirit of the guardian, working to protect us.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement that O’Sullivan “represented the best of what we hope to be as human beings in her selfless service to the community and readiness to help those in need.

“She knew the dangers of the job, yet chose to dedicate herself at such a young age to those values anyway,” he added.

Concord police say O’Sullivan grew up in Pleasant Hill in Contra Costa County and graduated from College Park High School in 2011. She later attended Diablo Valley College.

This story was reported by Katie Orr and Miranda Leitsinger of KQED News, and The Associated Press.