Deputy killed by “two Mexican nationals”. California won’t let investigators talk to ICE.
Another one of our brothers is dead thanks to California leaders putting “sanctuary laws” above protecting citizens and officers.
On Thursday, El Dorado County Sheriff John D’Agostini announced that Deputy Brian Ishmael was murdered by “two Mexican nationals”.
It happened while they were responding to a call from a man who told 911 that somebody was stealing from his private garden.
Audio recordings from the 911 calls were released.
In them, you could hear a call come in from homeowner Christopher Ross. He told them someone was stealing marijuana plants from his private garden.
According to Sheriff D’Agostini, Deputy Ishmael responded to a the call in the 4700-block of Sand Ridge Road, in the rural community of Somerset. He was with a ridealong, who is an off-duty San Joaquin County deputy.
According to police, when they arrived at the property, Ross told the deputies that the people in his garden were stealing.
Turns out he lied.
“What he failed to report was that he had a business arrangement with the persons growing marijuana on his property,” Sheriff D’Agostini said. “Had he been truthful with our deputies and the 911 dispatcher, this tragic event would not have occurred.”
According to the sheriff, just after speaking with Ross, the deputies walked to the back of the home. That’s where some 75 plans were growing. When they announced themselves, the suspects opened fire. LET Unity – It’s being called the “Netflix” of the Emergency Responder and Veteran CommunityPauseUnmuteLoaded: 54.42%Remaining Time -1:03Fullscreen
“At that time, they were immediately confronted with gunfire,” Sheriff D’Agostini said.
According to the sheriff, both men returned fire, and both were shot during the ensuing gun battle.
Medical officials said Deputy Ishmael was shot once in upper chest above his ballistic vest and once in foot. He died within minutes.
According to KOVR, you could hear the desperate gun battle over the radio traffic:
“We have an officer down and we can’t get him out…” one deputy reported.
“…officer down, I need additional people up here by the pool,” another deputy told dispatch.
Sheriff D’Agostini said the off-duty San Joaquin County sheriff’s deputy was wounded in the upper thigh and rushed to the hospital.
He was released after surgery.
According to Sheriff D’Agostini, police set up a perimeter at the scene and SWAT officers arrested two people near the garden site.
Mexican national Juan Vasquez was one of the men. The sheriff said he was wounded by gunfire during the incident, and so he was brought to the hospital where he also underwent surgery.
According to Sheriff D’Agostini, Vasquez had been cleared for arrest and would be charged with murder and assault with a deadly weapon.
He went on to say that police also arrested Mexican national Romiro Morales. He’s currently being on charges of aiding in the commission of a felony.
In a disgusting twist in the investigation, the sheriff said that California law prevented him from contacting U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) to find out more about the immigration statuses of both suspects.
He was, however, told they were both “Mexican nationals” who had resided in the United States for some time prior to the shooting… and is now in talks with the U.S. Attorney’s Office regarding federal charges.
The homeowner who had called 911 initially was also arrested.
According to the sheriff, Ross had “a business arrangement for the leasing of the land to grow the marijuana on” with the men who shot the deputies.
He’s now charged with involuntary manslaughter and held on $50,000 bail, according to jail records.
It’s not uncommon for authorities to deal with incidents around legal and illegal marijuana grows in California.
“There’s a lot of violence that surrounds these gardens and we’re seeing a perfect example of it right now,” the sheriff said.
According to the sheriff, California’s laws aren’t good enough to adequately prepare law enforcement to deal with the exploding marijuana-growing industry.
They also clearly aren’t good enough to keep criminals behind bars… or out of America.
