A 22-year-old rookie police officer responding to a multi-vehicle traffic collision was shot and killed in downtown Davis, CA, on Thursday night, and a suspect was later found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound after a standoff with law enforcement.
The officer has been identified as Natalie Corona, who graduated from the police academy in July, according to the Mercury News.
Davis Police Chief Darren Pytel said in a press conference that Corona had "just completed her field training" and "had only been out on her own for a few weeks."
“She was a rising star in the department,” Pytel said. He added that Corona was like a daughter and sister to many officers in the department, and her death is “just a devastating loss to the police department.”
Law enforcement was in Corona's blood. Her father Merced Corona served 26 years as a Colusa County Sheriff’s deputy. The Sacramento Bee reports that sources say she was an eager rookie officer, a young woman who started with the department in 2016 as a community service officer and who stayed on the job even when funding for her position ran out.
She posted tributes on her Facebook page to fellow officers, including those who died in the line of duty.
The Sacramento Sheriff’s Department is taking over the investigation, CBS13 reports.
