A Yuba County, CA, deputy ran into a house in Northern California to pull two wounded colleagues to safety after a shootout with a suspect near a marijuana farm belonging to a Rastafarian church Wednesday. The deputies were called to the scene by the church.

The two deputies were expected to survive after their fellow deputy, a 22-year veteran, went alone into a house where the gunman had fled, Yuba County Sheriff Steve Durfor said. The wounded deputies were in fair condition at a hospital, the sheriff’s department said Wednesday on Twitter.

The deputy did not see the suspect, later identified as 33-year-old Mark Anthony Sanchez, or hear gunfire while rescuing the pair Tuesday. SWAT team members later found Sanchez dead, likely from shots fired by the deputies, Durfor told the Associated Press, though it’s possible they were self-inflicted.

Sanchez had been working for about a month at the farm owned by Sugarleaf Rastafarian Church, which believes that marijuana is sacred and grows it about 55 miles (88.5 kilometers) north of Sacramento.

The church’s leader, Heidi Lepp, said she received a call from members who worked on the farm saying the man, who she knew only as “Sawyer,” was ripping up plants and wielding a gun. She told the workers to leave and called authorities.

 

Like this story? Want to know why tens of thousands of law enforcement people receive stories like this in their email twice a week?

Subscribe to award winning OnTarget newsletter!

Shares
Share This
0
    0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is emptyReturn to Shop
      Calculate Shipping
      Apply Coupon
      Available Coupons
      admin20 Get $20.00 off $20 off your cart total.
      adminpromo Get 100% off Free item offered by the administrator
      Unavailable Coupons
      adminsubscriptionretiredfirstpayment Get $120.00 off First payment of retired subscription when paid and added manually.
      cabinfree2days Get $90.00 off Get 2 free nights at the cabin.
      cabinfreeweek Get $315.00 off A free week (7 days) at the associated cabin in one contiguous stay at the time of your choice.
      freebassentry Get 100% off
      golf2024robr Get $700.00 off Rob Richardson sponsor amount to cover his foursome. Check given. Tim approved.
      golfsponsor Get 100% off Free admission to the tournament with a golf sponsorship.
      jh$25 Get $25.00 off Jonathon Hall reimbursement for shirt he purchased that was too small.
      ldf1month Get $13.00 off Prorate an LDF membership for 1 month discount
      ntcvendorcomp Get 100% off This coupon entitles the user to a free vendor table at the NTC conference.
      retired10 Get $10.00 off
      retired60 Get $60.00 off This discounts your current year renewal $60 since you already pre-paid $60 towards your renewal for this year.
      spmtc Get 20% off Special 20% Off all Motor T's for a limited time!