Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
New Details Emerge in Fatal Shootings of California Police
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 years ago on
May 12, 2021

Share

LOS ANGELES — As two police departments in California mourn the loss of their officers — shot and killed in the line of duty in two separate incidents within 24 hours — new details have emerged about the violence that occurred during a week meant to honor law enforcement nationwide.

Detective Lucas “Luca” Benedetti was killed while serving a search warrant Monday evening in the central California city of San Luis Obispo. Officer Jimmy Inn was fatally shot Tuesday morning in the Northern California city of Stockton while responding to a domestic disturbance call.

The shootings happened during National Police Week, an annual event that honors law enforcement officers who were killed or disabled in the line of duty.

Inn Killed Responding to Domestic Disturbance Call

In the Stockton killing, police revealed a more detailed account of the violence in a Facebook post written hours after the shooting. The events unfolded following a disturbance at a home Tuesday morning, with a caller saying there was a woman bleeding. Inn knocked on the residence’s door and stood off to the side, police said.

A voice inside said, “hey, police,” and a man opened the door and immediately opened fire, shooting Inn multiple times, police said.

A second officer, identified late Tuesday as Pancho Freer, arrived at the scene to gunshots and saw the man standing over Inn and holding a gun, police said. The man began firing at Freer, striking his patrol car. Freer returned fire from inside the vehicle.

The man, later identified as 30-year-old Lance Lowe, went back inside the home and came back outside moments later, holding his 8-year-old son. Lowe began to strangle his son in the front yard, ignoring Freer’s commands. As Freer came toward them, a bystander tackled Lowe.

As soon as the child was free, police said, Freer fired multiple times at Lowe. Lowe and Inn were taken to the hospital, where both were pronounced dead.

The child was medically cleared and released to his mother. The woman who was reported bleeding in the initial emergency call had walked away from the home, and police are still trying to find her.

A Glock handgun was found at the scene, police said.

Gunman Waited to Open Fire at Police Serving Search Warrant

In San Luis Obispo, a central California city about 250 miles (402 kilometers) south of Stockton, Benedetti and five other officers went to an apartment Monday evening for an investigation into items stolen in a string of late-night commercial burglaries, police said.

Police said gunman Edward Zamora Giron was lying in wait inside and fired at the officers before shooting and killing himself, police said. He also suffered wounds sustained in the shootout. Police initially said that he had been killed by officers’ fire.

Benedetti and Detective Steve Orozco were struck in the gunfire. Orozco is expected to fully recover from his injuries.

Friends Say Giron Suffered from Mental Illness and Alcoholism

Giron’s friends told The San Luis Obispo Tribune that he had suffered from mental illness that worsened during the pandemic after losing his job at a climbing gym called The Pad Climbing. Known to the local rock-climbing community as “Eddie,” Giron was a former gym employee who allegedly burglarized it early Monday morning, according to an Instagram post by the gym.

The gym’s CEO, Kristin Horowitz, told the newspaper on Monday that she believed the business lost up to $20,000 in equipment. Authorities on Tuesday said they had recovered some stolen property at Giron’s home but would not say if any of it belonged to The Pad.

Nasim Delavari, a friend of Giron’s since 2016 who was also a rock climber, told The Tribune that she came to understand that Giron had a hard upbringing. He had developed issues with alcoholism, she told the newspaper, and suffered from some degree of mental illness that included symptoms such as paranoia. She said he began to spiral after losing his job at the gym, but she did not know the circumstances that led to it.

“I have never seen him be violent toward me or any of my friends ever. Even when it was clear he was suffering from mental illness, he was always so compassionate, so present and a great friend,” Delavari told the newspaper. “I never felt unsafe around him, ever.”

Both Officers Survived By Wives and Children

Benedetti’s fellow officers recalled his devotion to his family and his love for law enforcement. The 37-year-old is survived by his wife, Grace, and two young daughters. He was a a 12-year law enforcement veteran and a detective in the city’s police department, as well as a member of the regional SWAT team.

Benedetti was born in San Francisco to Italian immigrant parents and grew up in the Bay Area, according to a GoFundMe organized by a regional SWAT team and the San Luis Obispo Police Officers’ Association. The money raised will go to his family.

Benedetti initially studied engineering in college but chose a law enforcement career instead. He was hired by the Atascadero Police Department in 2008 and transferred to the San Luis Obispo Police Department in 2012. He loved cooking and gardening.

“As a community, we cannot fix this loss, but we can provide love, prayers and financial support to those left behind tasked with picking up the pieces of this broken family,” the GoFundMe states.

Inn, 30, is survived by his wife, who is also a Stockton police officer, as well as a 7-month old son, a 12-year-old stepdaughter and a 14-year-old stepson. He was remembered as an optimistic and popular officer.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Baseball’s Newest Hall of Famers: Suzuki, Sabathia, Wagner

DON'T MISS

‘Once in a Lifetime’ Snow Hits Parts of the US South

DON'T MISS

Trump Temporarily Halts Leasing and Permitting for Wind Energy Projects

DON'T MISS

Fresno Man Who Dealt Deadly Fentanyl Pill Gets 80-Month Prison Term

DON'T MISS

What’s Next for EVs as Trump Moves to Revoke Biden-Era Incentives?

DON'T MISS

US Throws out Policies Limiting Arrests of Migrants at Sensitive Locations like Schools, Churches

DON'T MISS

Visalia Police Find Man Shot Near Shopping Center. Tips Sought.

DON'T MISS

Convicted Jan. 6 Rioter Benjamin Martin Still Going to Prison

DON'T MISS

Is Lawsuit on Planned Reedley Job Center a ‘Shakedown’?

DON'T MISS

Much of the Damage from the LA Fires Could Have Been Averted

UP NEXT

Visalia Police Find Man Shot Near Shopping Center. Tips Sought.

UP NEXT

Is Lawsuit on Planned Reedley Job Center a ‘Shakedown’?

UP NEXT

CA Sued the Tar Out of Trump the First Time Around. How Did It Do?

UP NEXT

Musk’s Straight-Arm Gesture Embraced by Right-Wing Extremists

UP NEXT

As Trump Declares Border Emergency, CA’s Targeted Immigrants Lie Low

UP NEXT

Visalia Starbucks Pepper Spray Attacker Found Guilty

UP NEXT

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Trent Tresean Williams

UP NEXT

Dangerous Winds Return to Southern California as New Wildfires Break Out

UP NEXT

Trump’s Executive Orders: Reversing Biden’s Policies

UP NEXT

Thousands in Downtown Fresno to Celebrate MLK Jr. in Annual March

Fresno Man Who Dealt Deadly Fentanyl Pill Gets 80-Month Prison Term

2 hours ago

What’s Next for EVs as Trump Moves to Revoke Biden-Era Incentives?

2 hours ago

US Throws out Policies Limiting Arrests of Migrants at Sensitive Locations like Schools, Churches

2 hours ago

Visalia Police Find Man Shot Near Shopping Center. Tips Sought.

2 hours ago

Convicted Jan. 6 Rioter Benjamin Martin Still Going to Prison

3 hours ago

Is Lawsuit on Planned Reedley Job Center a ‘Shakedown’?

3 hours ago

Much of the Damage from the LA Fires Could Have Been Averted

5 hours ago

CA Sued the Tar Out of Trump the First Time Around. How Did It Do?

5 hours ago

Israel’s Top General Resigns over Oct. 7 Failures, Adding to Pressure on Netanyahu

6 hours ago

Musk’s Straight-Arm Gesture Embraced by Right-Wing Extremists

6 hours ago

Baseball’s Newest Hall of Famers: Suzuki, Sabathia, Wagner

NEW YORK — Ichiro Suzuki became the first Japanese player chosen for baseball’s Hall of Fame, falling one vote shy of unanimous when he was ...

1 hour ago

Ichiro Suzuki in Yankee Pinstripes
1 hour ago

Baseball’s Newest Hall of Famers: Suzuki, Sabathia, Wagner

People walk past the 1900 Storm memorial sculpture on Seawall Blvd. during an icy winter storm on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025 in Galveston, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
1 hour ago

‘Once in a Lifetime’ Snow Hits Parts of the US South

The five turbines of Block Island Wind Farm operate, Dec. 7, 2023, off the coast of Block Island, R.I., during a tour organized by Orsted. (AP File)
2 hours ago

Trump Temporarily Halts Leasing and Permitting for Wind Energy Projects

Photo of Mexican Oxy, fentanyl laced blue pills
2 hours ago

Fresno Man Who Dealt Deadly Fentanyl Pill Gets 80-Month Prison Term

President Donald Trump talks about the Endurance all-electric pickup truck, made in Lordstown, Ohio, at the White House, Sept. 28, 2020, in Washington. (AP File)
2 hours ago

What’s Next for EVs as Trump Moves to Revoke Biden-Era Incentives?

A Border Patrol truck rides along the border wall in Sunland Park, N.M., Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP/Andres Leighton)
2 hours ago

US Throws out Policies Limiting Arrests of Migrants at Sensitive Locations like Schools, Churches

Police are investigating after a man was found shot near a Visalia shopping center and transported to Kaweah Health.
2 hours ago

Visalia Police Find Man Shot Near Shopping Center. Tips Sought.

3 hours ago

Convicted Jan. 6 Rioter Benjamin Martin Still Going to Prison

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend