ALAMEDA, Calif. — A sheriff’s deputy was taken into custody Wednesday after authorities stated he fatally shot a married couple, prompting a manhunt throughout suburban Northern California and an almost hourlong telephone dialog that ended along with his give up, officers stated.
Devin Williams Jr., 24, is accused of capturing the lady, 42, and her husband, 58, along with his service weapon inside their residence early Wednesday in Dublin, roughly 25 miles southeast of Oakland, Alameda County Sheriff’s Workplace spokesman Lt. Ray Kelly informed reporters.
The deputy was off responsibility on the time of the capturing.
Williams, who had labored within the courthouse division of the sheriff’s workplace for a yr, had not but been booked when authorities introduced his give up, Kelly stated.
“Our company is in shock,” Kelly stated. “This isn’t one thing we cope with. This isn’t what we’re about. We had no concept that this might occur.”
Kelly added that “some vital issues” occurred within the deputy’s life within the latest months that appeared to have prompted an “emotional disaster.”
“A number of these occasions went undiscovered and undisclosed,” Kelly stated.
Kelly stated there was “connectivity” between Williams and the couple, who haven’t been recognized, although he didn’t present further particulars.
Williams labored a courthouse shift Tuesday, in addition to an additional time shift at a county jail till 11 p.m., Kelly stated. It wasn’t clear when or how Williams allegedly entered the Dublin residence, he stated.
Six folks had been within the residence when gunfire was reported to authorities round 12:45 a.m., Kelly stated. Amongst them was an out-of-town relative who grew to become a key eyewitness within the capturing, Kelly stated.
The couple had been pronounced useless on the scene, the Dublin Police Division stated in a information launch. Nobody else was injured.
Williams allegedly fled the scene in a Volkswagen, Kelly stated. Freeway patrol officers took him into custody roughly 160 miles away, close to the town of Coalinga, minutes earlier than authorities introduced his give up throughout an 11:30 a.m. information convention, Kelly stated.
Williams turned himself in after a 45-minute telephone dialog with Dublin Police Chief Garrett Holmes, who used disaster intervention methods to peacefully resolve the incident, Kelly stated.
Earlier than beginning on the sheriff’s workplace, Williams labored within the state’s Central Valley for the Stockton Police Division. A spokesman for the division, Joe Silva, stated he was employed for one yr, between Jan. 16, 2020, and Jan. 19, 2021.
Silva declined to debate Williams’ “separation” with the division, saying it was a personnel matter.
Kelly stated the sheriff’s workplace carried out a radical background test earlier than hiring Williams and located that it was “immaculate.”
Within the yr since Williams was employed, no disciplinary or different points had been reported, Kelly stated, including that he’d completed a “superb job.”
He “was actually a exceptional younger individual,” Kelly stated. “How we acquired right here immediately — it will likely be a part of our investigation and one thing we’ll be taking a look at as a legislation enforcement career.”
It wasn’t instantly clear if Williams has a lawyer to talk on his behalf.
