Officer-involved shooting Saturday in Sonora was fatal, Tuolumne Sheriff’s Office says
An armed man who confronted a sheriff’s deputy and a California Highway Patrol officer Saturday night in Sonora was fatally shot, the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office reported Monday.
The man, 51-year-old Fred Westmoreland, got out of his vehicle in Sonora after a pursuit that began in Twain Harte. He pointed a revolver at the law enforcement officers, who fired at him, hitting him multiple times, a news release says.
The incident began just after 7 p.m. when multiple callers to 911 reported that an intoxicated man crashed his vehicle into the 7-Eleven store in Twain Harte.
CalFire apparently was first on the scene and called for deputies because the driver was trying to leave the scene and had a gun.
As deputies were responding from Sonora, the release says, witnesses reported the vehicle was “blacked out”— no lights on — and ran two vehicles off Highway 108 while driving west at high speed.
Deputies tried to stop Westmoreland near Mono Way and Christie May Lane in East Sonora, but he continued on, reaching speeds up to 95 mph.
One deputy pursued the suspect to the area of Edgemont Acres Road in Sonora, where Westmoreland stopped in a residential driveway, got out and confronted the deputy while holding a loaded revolver.
It was after a CHP officer arrived on scene to assist the deputy that Westmoreland pointed his gun at them and was fired upon.
Deputies and medical responders performed CPR and other lifesaving measure, the release says, but Westmoreland was pronounced dead at the scene.
The involved sheriff’s deputy suffered minor injuries as a result of this incident, but the news release does not say how. It does not indicate the CHP officer was injured.
The .22-caliber revolver, which held two live rounds of ammunition and four spent casings was recovered from Westmoreland. Three other guns were found in his vehicle: a loaded 12-gauge shotgun, a loaded 30-06 bolt action rifle and a loaded .410 shotgun with a sawed-off barrel.
Investigators also recovered several items of drug paraphernalia and suspected methamphetamine from the vehicle, the release says.
The shooting remains under investigation. Per standard procedure, the involved deputy has been placed on paid administrative leave.
An emailed inquiry to the Sonora area CHP office Monday night was not immediately answered.
This story was originally published March 14, 2022 at 7:43 PM.
