The Latest on the killing of a Sacramento police officer (all times local):
7:05 p.m.
A Sacramento Police Academy graduation ceremony has opened with a moment of silence for a rookie gunned down last night by a rifle-wielding attacker.
Lt. Steve OIiveira told nearly 60 graduates on Thursday that the department suffered a devastating loss with the death of 26-year-old Tara O’Sullivan.
He says her death is a reminder of the commitment and sacrifice of law enforcement officers and the dangers they face.
O’Sullivan was shot during a domestic violence call Wednesday night and help didn’t reach her for 45 minutes. The gunman held off authorities for eight hours before surrendering.
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2:40 p.m.
A neighbor of a man suspected of killing a rookie Sacramento police officer says he had a history of harassing a black family that lived next door.
Muhammed Ilyas said Thursday that Adel Ramos was a “very nasty guy” who frequently shouted racial slurs at the family.
Ilyas says Ramos constantly antagonized the children and pulled knives on them for riding bikes and playing basketball.
The family could not immediately be reached for comment.
Sacramento police say Ramos was arrested on suspicion of murder in the Wednesday killing of 26-year-old Officer Tara O’Sullivan.
Police say O’Sullivan had responded to a domestic violence call and was helping a woman remove belongings from a home when the suspect opened fire.
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This item has been corrected by removing the reference to a shared yard.
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2 p.m.
The brother of a suspect in the fatal shooting of a Sacramento police officer says he has a history of domestic violence and drug abuse and has been in and out of jail for years.
Orlando Ramos told The Associated Press that he learned Thursday his 45-year-old brother Adel Sambrano Ramos was arrested in the killing of 26-year-old Officer Tara O’Sullivan.
He says Adel Ramos has been estranged from the family for years and has convictions that include driving under the influence, drug charges and domestic violence.
The Sacramento Bee reports Adel Ramos was booked into the county jail just before 6 a.m. on one count of murder.
Orlando Ramos says he’s heartbroken at the pain his mother is going through and for the police officer and her family.
He says he hopes his older brother “spends the rest of his life in prison.
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1:30 p.m.
California State University, Sacramento plans to create a scholarship in honor of a police officer who was shot and killed while responding to a domestic violence incident in the city.
Tara O’Sullivan graduated from the university and went through its first Law Enforcement Candidate Scholars program.
Her professors and university leaders recall the 26-year-old O’Sullivan as a leader among her peers and someone with tenacity.
University President Robert Nelson says O’Sullivan told him her child development major would help her be a better officer.
They described her as someone who took on the physical training aspects of the program with vigor, even though she was small in stature.
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1:10 p.m.
A police tactics expert says it’s not incomprehensible that it took 45 minutes for Sacramento officers to reach a wounded, rookie colleague who later died after an armed standoff.
Police have said officers couldn’t reach 26-year-old Tara O’Sullivan after she was shot during a domestic violence call because the gunman kept firing.
Thor Eells, executive director of the National Tactical Officers Association, says it could easily take nearly an hour for an armored vehicle to get to a shooting scene to provide cover.
Details about the scene of the Sacramento attack remained sketchy. However, Eells says a lack of cover or protection, the topography of the area and the location of the fallen officer and shooter could explain why O’Sullivan was not rescued sooner.
O’Sullivan died at a hospital after the Wednesday evening attack. The suspect, who has not been identified, surrendered to police after an eight-hour standoff.
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11:20 a.m.
A law enforcement expert says it’s “unacceptable” that it took Sacramento police officers nearly an hour to reach a colleague who was wounded during a domestic violence call and later died.
Police say officers couldn’t reach 26-year-old Tara O’Sullivan because the gunman kept firing at them.
Former New York Police Department Inspector Stephen Nasta said Thursday that officers should have commandeered an armored car, bus or heavy construction equipment if they had no immediate access to an armored police vehicle.
Nasta says police also could have used a diversionary tactic such as firing at the home, deploying smoke grenades or breaking a door or window in another part of the home.
O’Sullivan died at a hospital after the Wednesday evening attack. The suspect, who has not been identified, surrendered to police after an eight-hour standoff.
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9:30 a.m.
A Sacramento officer killed during a domestic violence call had been on the police force for just six months.
The Sacramento Police Department said in a statement Thursday that 26-year-old Officer Tara O’Sullivan graduated from the police academy in December.
Before that, she worked as a community service officer and studied at Sacramento State University, where she graduated with a degree in child development about a year ago.
Deputy Chief Dave Peletta says the department is devastated over the loss of “our young, brave officer.”
A suspect in the shooting Wednesday surrendered after an eight-hour standoff. His name has not been released.
The department said detectives are gathering evidence at the home in a Sacramento neighborhood.
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7:15 a.m.
Sacramento police say a man suspected of fatally shooting a police officer who was on a domestic violence call has surrendered to authorities and is in police custody.
The Sacramento Police Department said in a statement Thursday that investigators are still gathering evidence at the location where 26-year-old Officer Tara O’Sullivan was shot on Wednesday.
Police have said O’Sullivan was assisting a woman removing belongings from a home in the north Sacramento neighborhood when the suspect opened fire. The woman who was being assisted was not hurt.
Police say the suspect fired his rifle on and off during an 8-hour standoff before he surrendered.
It took officers 45 minutes to rescue the wounded O’Sullivan because the gunman kept firing. She died at a hospital.
The suspect was not immediately identified.
