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.
Nearly 7% of all San Joaquin County residents who received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine opted not to come back for the second.
Both Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are administered in a two-dose series, with patients needing to return for a second inoculation three to four weeks after receiving their first dose. Johnson & Johnson, the third COVID-19 vaccine approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use, is administered in one dose.
As San Joaquin County lags behind the state s overall vaccination rates, Public Health Officer Dr. Maggie Park said the county has shifted part of its focus to an important group the partially vaccinated.
A domestic violence suspect was killed Thursday night during an exchange of gunfire with Calaveras County law enforcement after authorities say he shot a deputy during an ambush and held a victim hostage at gunpoint.
Both the deputy and hostage, who was also struck by gunfire, remained hospitalized Friday morning but are expected to survive, according to a statement from the Calaveras County Sheriff s Office.
Law enforcement officials say the sheriff s dispatch center received a 911 call just after 10:30 p.m. on Thursday regarding an argument between a male and female at the Sierra Inn Motel. The reporting party stated a male pointed a firearm at the female victim s head, sheriff s officials said.
San Joaquin County has seen an uptick in both newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 and hospitalizations from the virus as California s overall case rate continues plummeting.
County Public Health Officer Dr. Maggie Park told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that San Joaquin County would remain in the red tier of California s color-coded COVID-19 reopening blueprint for the fourth week in a row. The county previously spent months in the purple tier, the state s most restrictive COVID-19 classification, following a post-holiday surge in December that threatened to overwhelm hospitals.
Park told the board Tuesday she would have liked to have been able to present a more favorable report.
A San Joaquin County bar owner has been arrested on suspicion of selling fake COVID-19 vaccinations cards, according the state s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.
Todd Anderson, 59, of Acampo was arrested Tuesday at his bar the Old Corner Saloon in the unincorporated city of Clements located just a few miles northeast of Lockeford, according to ABC spokesman John Carr.
In a statement, ABC says an investigation was opened after a complaint that fraudulent cards were being sold at Anderson s bar on East Highway 88 in Clements. Last month, undercover agents were able to purchase fraudulent cards at the Old Corner Saloon on multiple occasions, the agency said.