SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Latest on the death of a California police officer and search for the killer (all times local):
2:20 p.m.
President Donald Trump says the shooting death of a California officer by a man in the country illegally shows the need for a border crackdown.
Trump tweeted Thursday that a “full scale” manhunt is underway for the assailant and that it’s “time to get tough on Border Security.” He ended the message with: “Build the Wall!”
There is right now a full scale manhunt going on in California for an illegal immigrant accused of shooting and killing a police officer during a traffic stop. Time to get tough on Border Security. Build the Wall!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 27, 2018
A man killed Cpl. Ronil Singh of the small-town Newman Police Department during a traffic stop Wednesday over suspected drunken driving.
Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson said Thursday that the gunman is in United States illegally but didn’t release his name or other details.
Trump’s tweet comes during a partial government shutdown over an impasse on funding his wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
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11:35 a.m.
The police chief of a tiny California police department choked up as he spoke about one of his officers who was killed the day after Christmas.
Newman Police Chief Randy Richardson said at a news conference Thursday that his department of 12 is grieving Cpl. Ronil Singh and that other agencies are lending a hand.
Singh was shot during a traffic stop Wednesday. Richardson pleaded for the public to help bring the attacker to justice as authorities search for the suspect.
The police chief called the Fiji-born Singh an “American patriot” and said he came to the U.S. to serve this country.
Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson told reporters that the suspect is in the United States illegally.
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11:25 a.m.
A California sheriff says the suspect in the shooting death of a police officer is in United States illegally.
Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson told reporters Thursday that authorities have identified a suspect but didn’t name him. Authorities are still searching for the attacker.
Christianson’s agency is leading the investigation into the slaying of Cpl. Ronil Singh of the small-town Newman Police Department.
The sheriff says Singh pulled over the attacker as part of a DUI investigation Wednesday and that the officer fired back to try to defend himself.
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12 a.m.
Authorities are hunting the man suspected of killing a policeman who stopped his truck in a small California town.
Thirty-three-year-old Ronil Singh was shot Wednesday after stopping a pickup truck without a license plate in Newman, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco.
The truck was later found but the gunman is at large.
Authorities say surveillance photos taken at a convenience store shortly before the attack show the suspect, a heavy man with short dark hair wearing a chain necklace, dark T-shirt and jacket.
The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department says police agencies throughout California and out of state have been alerted.
Singh was a native of Fiji who joined the Newman police force in 2011. He is survived by a wife and an infant son.
