A 75-year-old woman being held hostage at gunpoint in San Andreas on Thursday night was struck by fragmentation and ricocheting rounds from law enforcement firearms during an exchange of gunfire between authorities and a domestic violence suspect, Calaveras County sheriff s officials say.
A deputy was also allegedly shot by the suspect, identified as 47-year-old Mark Aitulagi Lavea of Modesto, earlier in the night during what the Sheriff s Office described as an ambush.
Both the deputy, 14-month department veteran Jonathan Brown, and hostage were transported by air ambulance to a regional trauma center, sheriff s officials said Friday. Authorities say the suspect was shot by deputies during the standoff and died at the scene.