Man who killed a deputy serving an eviction notice was run over,
California sheriff says
[April 10, 2026]
PORTERVILLE, Calif. (AP) — A man fatally shot a central
California sheriff’s deputy Thursday morning as he was being served an
eviction notice, prompting a standoff that ended with authorities
fatally running him over with a vehicle after he fled the home.
Tulare County deputies were serving the notice to a 60-year-old man in
Porterville when he opened fire on them, the sheriff's department said.
Porterville is about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northeast of Los Angeles
in the state’s Central Valley.
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Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux, right, speaks to media after a
sheriff's deputy was shot and killed Thursday, April 9, 2026, in
Porterville, Calif. (Tulare County Sheriff's Office via AP) |
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The man barricaded himself inside the home with a rifle for
several hours. At one point, authorities deployed gas into the
home as the man continued to fire at law enforcement. The
standoff ended around 6 p.m. when the man left the home and
moved through the yards of nearby homes, Sheriff Mike Boudreaux
said at an evening news conference.
Boudreaux said a Kern County SWAT team drove an armored car into
the yard where the man was laying on the ground and he started
firing at them. The team drove the car over the man, killing
him.
Boudreaux said the man had failed to pay rent for 35 days and
had been expecting law enforcement to arrive to serve a final
notice for eviction. Boudreaux said he “laid in wait” and
immediately shot at officers when they arrived.
The man's family was in contact with him and urged him to come
out peacefully, but he refused, Boudreaux said.
The deputy who was killed was part of a group of officers that
arrived to help after gunfire began, Boudreaux said. Bystander
video shot from a driveway and posted by the Visalia Times-Delta
showed several armed deputies crouched on the road in a
residential neighborhood when a series of shots rang out. Some
of the deputies began running away. The gunman cannot be seen
from the video. Additional video showed someone being carried
into an emergency medical vehicle.
Boudreaux later identified the slain deputy as Detective Randy
Hoppert, a veteran of the U.S. Navy who joined the sheriff's
department in 2020.
“This is senseless,” Boudreaux said.
Residents in the neighborhood were evacuated by SWAT teams or
urged to shelter in place for several hours, and nearby schools
were on lockdown.
Miguel Ibarra, whose 82-year-old mother lives across the street
from the gunman, said it was surreal to see his parents' house
on TV in what is normally a quiet, boring neighborhood.
“The police did a really good job keeping us informed and
keeping us in the know of what’s going on,” he said.
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