Overview
- Tulare County Detective Randy Hoppert, 35, was fatally shot Thursday in Porterville when David Morales opened fire as deputies served a final eviction notice, according to Sheriff Mike Boudreaux.
- Following the morning gunfire, Morales barricaded himself for hours and kept shooting, and the sheriff says a BearCat armored vehicle ran over and killed him after he emerged in camouflage and continued to attack.
- Boudreaux called the shooting an ambush and said Morales had not paid rent for 35 days and expected deputies to arrive with the notice.
- The response drew multiple SWAT teams and a CHP helicopter, and nearby Porterville schools moved into lockdown or secure status while officers cleared homes and negotiated.
- Hoppert was a six-year veteran with a pregnant wife, the death is the office’s first line-of-duty fatality since 2007, and Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered flags at the State Capitol flown at half-staff.