PORTERVILLE, Calif. (AP) — A man fatally shot a central California sheriff’s deputy Thursday morning as he was being served an eviction notice, prompting a standoff that ended with authorities fatally running him over with a vehicle after he fled the home.
Tulare County deputies were serving the notice to a 60-year-old man in Porterville when he opened fire on them, the sheriff’s department said. Porterville is about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northeast of Los Angeles in the state’s Central Valley.
The man barricaded himself inside the home with a rifle for several hours. At one point, authorities deployed gas into the home as the man continued to fire at law enforcement. The standoff ended around 6 p.m. when the man left the home and moved through the yards of nearby homes, Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said at an evening news conference.
Boudreaux said a Kern County SWAT team drove an armored car into the yard where the man was laying on the ground and he started firing at them. The team drove the car over the man, killing him.
Boudreaux added that the man had failed to pay rent for 35 days and had been expecting law enforcement for a final eviction notice. He “laid in wait” and opened fire as officers arrived.
The family of the man was in contact with him during the standoff and urged him to come out peacefully, but he refused. Boudreaux later identified the slain deputy as Detective Randy Hoppert, a U.S. Navy veteran who had joined the sheriff’s department in 2020.
“This is senseless,” Boudreaux said, emphasizing the tragedy of the situation. Residents were evacuated or urged to shelter in place for hours, with nearby schools placed on lockdown during the incident. Witnesses described the normally quiet neighborhood as surreal during the events.
Tulare County deputies were serving the notice to a 60-year-old man in Porterville when he opened fire on them, the sheriff’s department said. Porterville is about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northeast of Los Angeles in the state’s Central Valley.
The man barricaded himself inside the home with a rifle for several hours. At one point, authorities deployed gas into the home as the man continued to fire at law enforcement. The standoff ended around 6 p.m. when the man left the home and moved through the yards of nearby homes, Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said at an evening news conference.
Boudreaux said a Kern County SWAT team drove an armored car into the yard where the man was laying on the ground and he started firing at them. The team drove the car over the man, killing him.
Boudreaux added that the man had failed to pay rent for 35 days and had been expecting law enforcement for a final eviction notice. He “laid in wait” and opened fire as officers arrived.
The family of the man was in contact with him during the standoff and urged him to come out peacefully, but he refused. Boudreaux later identified the slain deputy as Detective Randy Hoppert, a U.S. Navy veteran who had joined the sheriff’s department in 2020.
“This is senseless,” Boudreaux said, emphasizing the tragedy of the situation. Residents were evacuated or urged to shelter in place for hours, with nearby schools placed on lockdown during the incident. Witnesses described the normally quiet neighborhood as surreal during the events.
