Hundreds Mourn Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Deputy Killed Over the Weekend

Roughly two hundred people gathered outside the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office Sunday afternoon to mourn the death of 38-year-old Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller. He was killed after he responded to a call about a suspicious van Saturday.

The incident began with an afternoon call about a white van, with guns and bomb-making material visible inside, parked near Ben Lomond, about ten miles north of Santa Cruz. Gutzwiller was among those who spotted the van as it took off. It eventually parked at a home in Ben Lomond.

It was then authorities say Gutzwiller and other deputies were ambushed with gunfire and explosives. Gutzwiller was shot and pronounced dead by the time he arrived at a hospital. Another deputy was hit and was struck by a car as the suspect fled the property.

In the end, law enforcement officers shot and arrested 32-year-old Steven Carrillo,  an active-duty sergeant stationed at Travis Air Force Base. He was hospitalized and is expected to be criminally charged in the coming days with murder and several other felony charges, according to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office.

The FBI in San Francisco has joined the effort to determine if Carrillo acted alone, and if this incident was connected to the May 29 killing of Federal Protective Services Officer Dave Patrick Underwood in Oakland.

"The picture of good community policing"

One by one, Gutzwiller's friends and colleagues choked back tears describing their love for him before a hushed and tearful crowd of family, county first responders and well-wishers.

The husband and father of two, with one child still on the way, was a 14-year veteran of the sheriff's department. The Peace Officers Research Association of California has set up a fundraising account for the Gutzwiller family.

"Damon’s family is here with us today. I just want to tell them how sorry I am that this happened, and how much grief all of us are feeling and how much he will be missed," Santa Cruz Sheriff Jim Hart said at the vigil. He described Gutzwiller as "the picture of good community policing."

"He was kind, caring, patient, empathetic. He could take enforcement action when he needed to but he would rather communicate his way through any problem in front of him," Hart said. "I went through his personnel file last night: not a single citizen complaint in 14 years, and many, many commendations."

The emergency room nurses who cared for Gutzwiller at Dominican Hospital also turned out to pay their respects and attended the vigil in their scrubs. "This is a close community. We work very closely with law enforcement so it feels personal," said Babs Kingsley, who added that some of the nurses went to nursing school with Gutzwiller's wife. "That was hard for all of us yesterday."

Mike and Karla Dement from Tracy have a son who works in the Santa Cruz Police Department. "We felt it very important to come out here and support men and women in blue, fire, emergency, and just show them that we're here for them as they're here for us," said Carla Dement.