SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Authorities were searching Wednesday for a gunman who shot and killed a police officer during a traffic stop in California.
Newman Police Officer Ronil Singh, 33, had called in a traffic stop early Wednesday and a few minutes later reported “shots fired” over his radio, the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.
Multiple agencies responded and found Singh with gunshot wounds. He was rushed to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
A manhunt was underway for the killer, who was believed to be driving a gray Dodge Ram pickup when the shooting happened around 1 a.m. in Newman, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco.
Authorities released photographs of the suspect and the truck that were taken by surveillance cameras at a convenience store moments before the traffic stop, said Sgt. Tom Letras, a sheriff’s spokesman.
He said authorities do not know the suspect’s name.
In the photos, the heavyset suspect with short dark hair is wearing jeans, navy blue hoodie and navy T-shirt with a thick chain necklace.
Singh was a native of Fiji and had worked since July 2011 for the police department in Newman, a town of about 10,000 people.
On his Facebook page, Singh posted pictures on Christmas Eve from a deep sea fishing trip that produced a big haul of crabs and fish. The profile picture shows him smiling as he stands at a patrol car with a dog — the same photograph of the officer released by the sheriff’s department.
