Teenager Arrested in Connection with Sacramento County Deputy's Murder

Det. Vu Nguyen was killed Wednesday afternoon when he was shot during a foot pursuit. Nguyen was a member of an anti-gang unit.

A 16-year-old boy was arrested this morning in connection with the Wednesday murder of a Sacramento County Sheriff's deputy.

Det. Vu Nguyen was killed Wednesday afternoon when he was shot during a foot pursuit. Nguyen was a member of an anti-gang unit.

He and his partner were chasing a young man in a fluffy camouflage jacket when he was shot while scaling a backyard fence. His partner found him on the ground in the yard with his gun drawn.

Nguyen and his partner were working the neighborhood gathering intelligence at the time of the shooting. They wore sheriff's vests and plain clothes on the assignment.

A sheriff's spokesman told the Sacramento Bee that Nguyen and his partner were checking out the house of known gang members when they made eye contact with a slender 5-foot-4 Asian man who appeared to be 18 to 20 years old or younger. A foot chase ensued.

After the arrest Sheriff John McGinness told a news conference that he was "confident that we got our guy."

The suspect was arrested at a family member's home. His identity has not been released because he is a juvenile.

Officials have recovered several guns and are working to determine if one of them was used to kill Nguyen.

The shooting caused several area schools to go into lockdown as more than 100 police, deputies, and federal agents searched for the gunman.

Nguyen married in April, which was about the same time that he became a detective with the gang suppression unit. He was a seven-year veteran of the department.

"It's one of those unfortunate things that could happen to anybody," Captain Trang To told the Sacramento Bee. "Unfortunately, it happened to a great human being," added To, who commanded Nguyen when he was on patrol. "It's a great loss to Vu's family, a great loss to the department, and a great loss to the community as a whole."

 

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