News

Because of the officer-involved shooting that occurred early this morning, the Klamath-Trinity Joint Unified School District will shutter all its schools tomorrow, according to Superintendent Jon Ray.

“We’re closing because we’ve experienced a tragedy here in our little community, so it’s best for our families to be together,” Ray said, adding that the closure was unplanned but necessary. Schools, he said, will re-open Jan. 5 after the planned winter break.


Previously:
A California Highway Patrol officer shot and killed a male suspect early this morning after responding to a single car accident on State Route 299 near Willow Creek.

According to a CHP press release, the officer was violently attacked immediately upon his arrival at the crash site, which occurred sometime after 1:35 a.m. The release states the officer was attacked with a “deadly weapon,” but CHP has declined to specify what that was.

“The officer, in fear for his life, discharged his departmentally issued firearm at the suspect,” the release states, adding that the suspect sustained fatal injuries in the exchange and was later pronounced dead at the scene. The officer was transported to a local hospital, where he is in stable condition.

The Lost Coast Outpost has parsed out scanner traffic from the incident, which can be found here.

Humboldt County Deputy Coroner Trevor Enright is currently on scene and was consequently unavailable to comment for this story. The shooting is being investigated by the Humboldt County Critical Incident Response Team, which is made up of officers from a variety of local agencies.

The officer-involved shooting is the second this week, after a Humboldt County sheriff’s deputy fired at an occupied vehicle during a pursuit Monday, injuring an unidentified woman.

See the full CHP press release below:

HUMBOLDT CHP OFFICER INVOLVED IN A SHOOTING INCIDENT

AFTER RESPONDING TO A TRAFFIC COLLISION



WILLOW CREEK, Calif. - On Thursday, December 18, 2014, at approximately 1:35 am, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) Humboldt Communications Center received a report of a single vehicle traffic collision on State Route 299 at Blue Jay Lane in the Willow Creek area. A CHP Humboldt Area officer assigned to the Willow Creek Resident Post was called out to handle the traffic collision. Upon the officer’s arrival, the officer was violently attacked by the driver of the vehicle by use of a deadly weapon. The officer, in fear of his life, discharged his departmentally issued firearm at the suspect. The suspect subsequently sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene. The officer sustained major injuries and was transported by ground ambulance to a nearby hospital for treatment.



The officer is listed as in stable condition. There are no other known suspects outstanding and the CHP believes this to be an isolated incident. The county-wide shooting investigation team has been assigned to investigate this incident. In addition, the CHP’s Northern Division shooting investigation team has been assigned to investigate this incident as an internal administrative investigation.



This is a very tragic event that will have a lasting impact on our community, the CHP Humboldt Area, and the officer and families involved.



Any inquiries into this incident can be directed the California Highway Patrol Humboldt Area office at (707) 822-5981.