PORTERVILLE, Calif. (FOX26) \u2014 Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux provided a new update Thursday afternoon following a deadly deputy-involved shooting in Porterville. <\/p>\n
Sheriff Boudreaux confirmed the fallen deputy has been identified as 35-year-old Detective Randy Hoppert, a five-year veteran of the department and former Navy corpsman who served from 2010 to 2015. <\/p>\n
The sheriff added the detective leaves behind a wife and a four-month-old baby.<\/p>\n
Hoppert was hired by the Tulare County Sheriff\u2019s Office in January 2020.<\/p>\n
Authorities say his family has been notified, and officials are asking for privacy as they grieve.<\/p>\n
Tulare County detective Randy Hoppert confirmed to be the deputy killed during a shooting in Porterville Thursday morning. (Photo: Tulare County Sheriff’s Office)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The shooting began around 10:20 a.m. near Newcomb and Grand while deputies were serving an eviction notice.<\/p>\n
The suspect, identified as 59-year-old David Eric Morales, opened fire on deputies. <\/p>\n
Officials say Morales was not wanted for any crimes and had no known criminal history prior to the incident.<\/p>\n
During the standoff, Morales left the home wearing camouflage and hid in nearby brush, continuing to fire at officers. <\/p>\n
Tactical teams from multiple agencies, including SWAT units and air support, worked to contain the situation.<\/p>\n
Although 18 firearms are registered to him, all handguns, he has been using rifles, raising additional concerns for officers on scene.<\/p>\n
Sheriff Boudreaux confirmed Morales was ultimately run over by a law enforcement BearCat vehicle and killed after continuing to pose a threat. <\/p>\n
The sheriff said Morales had made it clear through messages to family members that he did not intend to surrender and planned to \u201cgo down in a blaze of glory.\u201d<\/p>\n
Authorities say Morales was given multiple opportunities to surrender peacefully, including attempts by family members and negotiators to get him to come out.<\/p>\n
Officials say no additional injuries have been reported since the initial shooting.<\/p>\n
At least four blocks of nearby neighborhoods were evacuated, and residents were taken to Holy Cross Church, where food and shelter were provided. <\/p>\n
Schools in the area were temporarily placed on lockdown, but officials say students have since been safely released and campuses are expected to reopen.<\/p>\n
Sheriff Boudreaux described the loss of Detective Hoppert as devastating, noting the emotional toll on deputies and staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s rough,\u201d he said, adding that many within the department were personally close to the fallen detective.<\/p>\n
In a post to X, Governor Gavin newsom says Deputy Hoppert\u2019s legacy will endure and his sacrifice will always be remembered.<\/p>\n
In a post to Facebook, Valley Congressman Vince Fong says he and his wife are praying for the detective’s family.<\/p>\n
In another post, Congressman David Valadao described the shooting as a “senseless act of violence.” <\/p>\n
Sheriff Boudreaux shared that Hoppert’s grandfather was retired Undersheriff Doyle Hoppert, who died at 83-years-old in Visalia on in 2025. <\/p>\n
He retired in 1990 after a long career at the Tulare County Sheriff\u2019s Office. <\/p>\n
As he rose through the ranks, he served on Patrol, SWAT, Investigations, Night Watch, Property Crimes, Juvenile Unit, and, for a time, he was the Resident Deputy for Springville.<\/p>\n
A prayer vigil for Detective Hoppert is scheduled for 7 p.m. at 80 East Oak, in Porterville. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORTERVILLE, Calif. (FOX26) \u2014 Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux provided a new update Thursday afternoon following a deadly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":260947,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":{"0":"post-260946","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bakersfield","8":"tag-bakersfield","9":"tag-bakersfield-headlines","10":"tag-bakersfield-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260946\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}