Gunman Fires on Cops Trying to Reach Wounded Colleague

A Sacramento police officer who was shot and seriously wounded Wednesday evening by a rifleman who blasted away at officers trying to rescue her has died, police said. Tara O'Sullivan, 26, died at UC Davis Medical Center hours after a gunman opened fire on her, Deputy Chief Dave Peletta said during a news conference early Thursday. Several officers were on a domestic disturbance call, helping a woman collect her belongings and leave a home in the north Sacramento neighborhood, when the officer was wounded, Sgt. Vance Chandler said. The other woman wasn't hurt and the relationship between her and the gunman wasn't immediately known, the AP reports.

O'Sullivan lay in the backyard of a home and officers couldn't reach her because the gunman kept firing, Chandler said. "Our officers maintained cover in safe positions until we were able to get an armored vehicle in the area," he said. It took more than 45 minutes to get her to the hospital, he said. Peletta said O'Sullivan was partnered with a training officer when she was shot just before 6pm. The rifleman kept shooting for at least two hours and as of late Wednesday night, Chandler said negotiators hadn't been able to contact him. Heavily-armored police from several agencies swarmed the residential neighborhood, where a couple dozen marked and unmarked police cars had gathered.

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