Deputy wounded, suspect in van killed after gunfight in McDonald’s parking lot in Colfax
A burglary suspect was killed after firing upon at deputies Thursday night in a McDonald’s parking lot in Colfax, injuring a Placer County sheriff’s deputy, before authorities fired back.
The gunfight started about 11 p.m. when deputies patrolling near the 500 block of North Auburn Street located a van matching the description of a vehicle sought since the burglary the day before, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
“The deputies contacted a white male adult in his 30s who was in the van,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. “The suspect immediately became uncooperative with deputies. The deputies attempted to use de-escalation techniques in the hopes of gaining compliance from the suspect.”
That’s when the man fired on the deputies, the Sheriff’s Office said, striking one of them at 12:18 a.m., according to dispatch recordings reviewed by The Sacramento Bee.
“Deputies immediately returned fire after being fired upon,” the Sheriff’s Office said. “During the exchange of gunfire, our deputy was struck and evacuated by the other deputies on the scene.”
The deputy, who was not identified, was airlifted and hospitalized in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the neck, deputies told dispatchers, but the Sheriff’s Office said his condition has since “stabilized.”
Additional deputies, including the agency’s Special Enforcement Team, responded to the McDonald’s lot and tried to make contact with the suspect before they found the man dead inside the vehicle.
In an update Saturday, the Sheriff’s Office identified the man as Stephen Todd Sharp, 37. According to deputies, Sharp was “originally from Tennessee, but had been living out of his van in the Colfax area.”
Detectives from the Sheriff’s Office homicide bureau will internally investigate the shooting, in line with agency policy, and the deputies who fired the shots have been placed on administrative leave. The incident will also be reviewed by the Placer County District Attorney’s Office, officials said.
