2 Santa Cruz officers shot to death
Just another law abiding citizen with guns, until he wasn’t.
Two Santa Cruz police officers were shot and killed Tuesday afternoon, and a suspect was later killed by police, authorities said.
Police Chief Kevin Vogel confirmed that the officers had been killed while trying to arrest the suspect.
Struggling to contain his emotions, Vogel told reporters, “We lost two exceptionally fine officers today. … We need to figure out a way to bring our department together and get through this. It’s a horrible, horrible day for the Santa Cruz Police Department and the community of Santa Cruz.”
The officers, identified by Vogel as Detective Sgt. Loran “Butch” Baker and Detective Elizabeth Butler, were answering a call at 801 N. Branciforte Ave., about a mile northeast of downtown Santa Cruz, at around 3:30 p.m. when the suspect opened fire, said April Skalland, a spokeswoman for the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Department.
“They got into a shooting, two officers were killed, and so was the suspect,” Skalland said.
The elder Goulet said his son had recently moved to Santa Cruz, where he loved the beach.
“He’s never been convicted of a felony,” he said. He said he understood that police had wanted to talk to his son about allegedly breaking into the home of a Santa Cruz co-worker and making inappropriate advances to her.
He said his son had never been violent. “He does have guns - he’s a collector and he does target practice. But I don’t think he’s going to be shooting anyone.”