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Fugitive who shot law enforcement officers surrounded in California

Posted at 8:41 PM, Oct 25, 2013
and last updated 2013-10-25 22:41:20-04

By Cheri Mossburg and Greg Botelho

CNN

(CNN) — Authorities have surrounded a wanted parolee who, they say, shot at federal and local officers — hitting three and wounding another with shrapnel fragments — according to California police.

After that initial shooting, Samuel Duran ran and hopped fences in a Roseville neighborhood as members of various law enforcement agencies converged on the scene, police said.

By 6:25 p.m. (9:25 p.m. ET), authorities had located him at an otherwise unoccupied house in Roseville, which is 20 miles northeast of Sacramento.

“I know he’s pinned down,” Roseville police Lt. Cal Walstad said.

Duran has been sought by authorities “for the last couple of weeks,” according to Walstad, who did not detail what crimes the suspect had been tied. After determining where he was in Roseville, local police and a special agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations unit went there around 3 p.m.

According to Walstad, “once they made contact with him, shots were exchanged.”

The ICE special agent was shot in the leg and then transported to Sutter Roseville Medical Center, the police spokesman said. This officer was reported to be stable and alert a few hours later, said ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice.

The suspect ran, firing at times and jumping fences.

Three Roseville police officers ended up wounded at a third shooting site — including one struck in the jaw, one hit in the shoulder, and the third wounded by bullet fragments — according to Walstad. One of the Roseville officers was in serious condition, while the other two were stable, he said.

Authorities from multiple agencies quickly converged on the scene looking for Duran, who Walstad said had an “assault-type weapon.”

Neighbors were asked not to leave their houses, but they were never evacuated. And by 6 p.m., the scene was considered “contained” — even though, at that point, police hadn’t said they knew exactly where the suspect was.

Now that they do, he’s being surrounded by law enforcement. Hostage negotiations are on site as well, though it’s not believed that the suspect has taken any hostages.

Brenda Bell told CNN affiliate KCRA that the suspect is in her house; she went outside after her “dogs went crazy,” then she ran into a neighbor’s house after seeing him run through her back gate.

“(Police) keep repeating, ‘We have the house surrounded. Come out with your hands up,'” Jim Stewart, the neighbor who invited Bell in, said Friday night. “They’ve been doing this for hours now.”

Placer County Sheriff Edward Bonner described the situation as “incredibly dangerous,” while expressing confidence it’ll be resolved as well as possible.

“This is a very tough day,” Bonner said. “It’s unsettling for all us; no one is immune to this sort of tragedy and criminality. But here it is.

“But I’ll tell you what,” he added. “We have a great community of law enforcement that is going to deal with this.”

CNN’s Andy Rose contributed to this report.

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