Ben Lomond, CA — A Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputy was shot and killed while responding to a call about a suspicious van that reportedly contained multiple weapons. When he and other officers arrived, they were attacked in an ambush. Police said there was “gunfire and multiple improvised explosives”.
Killed in the ambush was 38-year-old Damon Gutzwiller, a 14-year veteran of the police department. Gutzwiller leaves behind a pregnant wife and another small child.
Gutziller’s boss, Santa Cruz County Sheriff Jim Hart had only good things to say about Gutzwiller. “Damon showed up today to do his job, to keep this community safe, and his life was taken unnecessarily,” said Hart, visibly shocked.
Ambushed Out Of The Blue
The deputies responded to a 911 call around 1:30 p.m. about a suspicious van on Jamison Creek Road . The caller gave lots of details, saying that the van had weapons and devices to make bombs inside. But when officers arrived, the van was driving away. The police pursued them, not realizing that the van was baiting them into a trap.
When the truck tuned down suspect a driveway, the ambush began.
Officers were struck by gunshots and explosives immediately after they got out of their vehicle for cover. A second officer was struck either by a bullet or shrapnel and is currently in critical condition.
Sgt. Gutzwiller was shot and later died at the hospital.
Suspect Is U.S. Air Force Member
The suspect is thirty-two-year-old Steven Carrillo, currently a member of the 60th Security Forces Squadron at Travis Air Force base. Steven Carrillo was arrested and faces murder charges and additional felony charges, according to Hart. Carillo was shot when he was detained and was treated in a hospital on Saturday night.
Steve Carillo
There is no word yet on Carillo’s motive.
The War On Police
As this trend of police being attacked and killed spreads, we expect there will be more and more early retirements and career changes. Being a cop is often a low-paying job, and add in getting targeted for attacks like this and nobody will want the job at all.
If the cops aren’t coming, the Second Amendment is more important than ever! We can’t be defenseless when half of the culture wants do away with the police, altogether. We all know that the minute that happens, crime rates will skyrocket.
THIS is why Americans needs Stand Your Ground and Constitutional Carry and they need them now. If the left wants to pull cops off the streets, they need to be eliminating gun control laws at the same times!