C.O shot in the Highgrove area!!!

Officer in critical condition after shooting in Colton


[email=doug.saunders@inlandnewspapers.com;melissa.pinion-whitt@inlandnewspapers.com?subject=San Bernardino County Sun:]Doug Saunders and Melissa Pinion-Whitt, Staff Writerssbsun.com[/email]
Posted: 05/03/2013 07:47:03 AM PDT



The mood was business as usual Friday at a Shell gas station in Colton where an off-duty state corrections officer was gunned down Thursday night. (Doug Saunders/Staff Writer)


COLTON -- A 52-year-old Chino prison corrections officer was in critical condition Friday with a gunshot wound to the head, and his alleged assailants - one recently on parole from the prison - were in custody after a nighttime assault at a gas station that would have killed him if it wasn't for the quick action of police, authorities said. When officers arrived at the Shell gas station in the 2700 block of Iowa Avenue shortly before 9 p.m. Thursday night, they found the 26-year correctional officer with a wound so serious that police didn't want to wait for paramedics.
The off-duty California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officer at California Institution for Men had apparently been shot while pumping gas. "The patrol officers picked up the downed officer, loaded him into their patrol unit and raced him to the emergency room at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center," said police spokesman Ray Mendez. "He's currently in critical but stable condition in the critical care unit. "
The shooters fled. But police received information on them and their silver Dodge Durango.
About three hours later, Riverside police spotted an SUV pulling into a Burger King drive-thru matching the one described by Colton police and approached the driver.
The driver jumped out of the SUV and ran, but was captured. A second man was also detained, though it was unclear whether he was in the vehicle with the driver or captured at another location.
Christopher Marquez, 24, and Anthony Gomez Jr., 31, both of Riverside, and who allegedly have gang ties, were booked into Central Detention Center in San Bernardino on suspicion of attempted murder and conspiracy.
They were each being held in lieu of $1 million bail.
A motive in the shooting was not released by police, and state officials declined to comment on whether the officer knew the suspects through his job at California Institution for Men, where Gomez was housed during his prison term.
According to court records, Gomez was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2001 for a robbery and assault with a deadly weapon that occurred in July 2000.
The judge ordered him sent to the Chino prison.
But he was put on parole in March 2012.
State officials declined to identify the officer for his protection, but the Secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Jeff Beard, issued a statement Friday saying thoughts and prayers were with the officer and with his family.
"Our hearts are heavy after learning two people tried to murder one of our correctional officers in Colton last night," Beard said. "The Colton Police Department is investigating this tragic incident and we are thankful they immediately transported the officer to the hospital. Their quick actions saved his life. "
A personal blog belonging to a correctional officer posted a memo said to be from California Institution for Women Warden Tamara Kabban-Miller. It offered prayers for the man and stated that he was in uniform and had stopped at the gas station on his way from work.
"Again, I know you will keep (the officer) in your thoughts for his recovery as our correctional family mourns this tragic shooting," it said.



Read more: http://www.sbsun.com/ci_23164591/riverside-men-arrested-colton-corrections-officer-shooting#ixzz2SYGT6oAv