GALT — A police officer in the Sacramento County city of Galt was shot and killed Tuesday after responding to a report of a burglary, authorities said.
K-9 officer Kevin Tonn, 31, was one of two officers who responded to a burglary in progress on the 200 block of F Street in Galt around 11:30 a.m., according to Galt police Lt. Jim Uptegrove. While officers were interviewing neighbors, one of the witnesses pointed down the road to some train tracks, roughly a block away, identifying the burglary suspect.
Tonn attempted to approach the man, but Uptegrove said the man became aggressive and an altercation between Tonn and the suspect ensued.
At some point during the struggle, the suspect pulled out a hand gun and shot Tonn and the second officer who responded to the burglary call.
Tonn was taken to Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento Hospital where he was pronounced dead, Uptegrove said.
The suspect, whose identity is not being released by police, continued to fire at officers who had been called in for emergency backup before turning the gun on himself.
Uptegrove said the suspect died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
No other officers were hit. Tonn’s police dog, Yaro, was also not injured.
“(Tonn) was a proactive officer; he was well-respected,” Uptegrove said in a news conference Tuesday afternoon. “This is definitely a loss … that will be felt throughout the department and the community.”
Galt police told Sacramento television station KCRA that it’s the department’s first fatal on-duty officer shooting since the department was formed in 1946. In 1989, an on-duty officer died from a heart attack, Uptegrove said.
Before joining the Galt Police Department in September 2009, Tonn was military police officer in the U.S. Army and then, as a civilian, was an emergency medical technician, a firefighter and then a fire inspector before he went back into law enforcement, the Galt Herald reported.
Tonn first joined the department as a reserve officer before he was hired full-time, the Herald added.
Uptegrove said he did not believe Tonn was married; his current city of residence was not immediately available, but authorities said he had previously lived in Roseville.
Galt is a community of about 25,000 residents about 20 miles south of Sacramento.
The shooting comes less than two months after an animal control officer was shot and killed after being called to retrieve pets believed to have been left behind at a Galt home.
In that incident, authorities say 45-year-old Roy Marcum was killed by Joseph Corey, who had recently been evicted from his home. Marcum was one of two officers who were attempting to serve an eviction notice when Corey opened fire with a shotgun.
Corey faces charges of murder.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact Katie Nelson at 925-945-4780 or follow her at Twitter.com/katienelson210.
