A Tulare County deputy died Thursday morning after a Porterville shooting that began when officers serving a search warrant came under fire near Newcomb and Grand. Sheriff Boudreaux said the wounded deputy was pulled to safety and taken to the hospital, where he died at 11:20 a.m.
The shooting happened around 10:20 a.m. in the area of Newcomb and Grand, where deputies were serving the warrant when David Morales started firing, according to the sheriff. Deputies returned fire while Morales continued to shoot, and a FOX26 viewer captured cellphone video of the moment the shots were fired.
Boudreaux said the suspect was barricaded in a nearby home and was using a high-powered rifle. Officers from the Porterville, Tulare and Farmersville police departments assisted at the scene, along with a California Highway Patrol helicopter and Bakersfield and Visalia SWAT teams.
Nearby schools were placed under a shelter-in-place order as the confrontation unfolded. Boudreaux told parents their children were safe and urged them to stay away until further notice, as authorities worked to secure the area and account for everyone involved.
The death turned a search warrant service into a fatal gun battle in the center of Porterville, and the immediate question for investigators is how Morales remained armed and barricaded after deputies tried to take control of the scene. The sheriff has already answered the one thing families needed most to know: the schools were safe, and the deputy did not survive.
