{"id":262713,"date":"2026-04-11T14:27:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T14:27:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/262713\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T14:27:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T14:27:12","slug":"remembering-officers-shot-and-killed-near-fresno","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/262713\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering officers shot and killed near Fresno"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Tulare County Sheriff\u2019s deputy was shot and killed<\/a> while responding to calls for assistance at home in Porterville on Thursday.<\/p>\n

The deputy, 35-year-old Randy Hoppert, was shot with what the sheriff\u2019s office later described as \u201ca high-powered rifle\u201d by a suspect who evaded authorities by moving among three houses in the area while using camouflage attire to shoot at deputies.<\/p>\n

The deputies had originally arrived to serve an eviction notice at the home.<\/p>\n

The suspect, later identified as David Morales<\/a>, was eventually killed by law enforcement.<\/p>\n

Hoppert\u2019s condition was too volatile for transport to Fresno\u2019s Community Regional Medical Center, so he was taken to Porterville\u2019s Sierra View District Hospital, where he died. His body was escorted in procession, to the Tulare County Coroner\u2019s Office on Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n

\"Randy Randy Hoppert, a six-year-veteran of the Tulare County Sheriff\u2019s Office, was shot and killed in the line of duty Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Porterville, California. TULARE COUNTY SHERIFF\u2019S OFFICE First shooting death in nearly two decades<\/p>\n

This is the first shooting death of a deputy at the Tulare County Sheriff\u2019s Office in nearly 20 years, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page<\/a>, a nonprofit that honors fallen law enforcement officers.<\/p>\n

In 2007, detective<\/a> Kent Haws was killed while investigating suspicious activity near Ivanhoe. According to The Fresno Bee reporting at the time, the killer walked out of the orange groves and shot Haws five times, including once in the \u201ccenter of his forehead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, he walked away, leaving Haws on the side of the road.<\/p>\n

The man, Jorge Banda, was carrying the gun when he was arrested a short while later. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but was eventually convicted of the murder and sentenced to life in prison in 2012.<\/p>\n

\"A A portrait of fallen Selma Police Officer Gonzalo Carrasco Jr., who was killed in the line of duty in January 2023, stands outside the Selma Police Department during a monument dedication for the officer on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n

In 2023, a Selma police officer was gunned down while on a routine patrol in a residential Selma neighborhood west of Highway 99. Authorities at the time said Gonzalo Carrasco Jr. (a 24-year-old father-to-be<\/a>) was \u201cessentially executed\u201d<\/a> by a convicted felon in possession of an illegally manufactured ghost gun.<\/p>\n

It was the first line-of-duty death in the history of the department.<\/p>\n

In 2010, deputies with the Fresno County Sheriff\u2019s Office were serving a search warrant for a suspected arsonist at a trailer in Minkler when they were ambushed.<\/p>\n

Two law enforcement officers were shot and killed during the initial shootout and ensuing stand-off<\/a>, which lasted seven hours.<\/p>\n

Fresno County deputy<\/a> Joel Wahlenmaier was killed (and a second deputy was injured) in the initial effort to get the man from of the home.<\/p>\n

A 28-year-old Reedley police officer,<\/a> Javier Bejar, was shot about an hour later while standing watch 244 feet from the trailer, according to Fresno Bee reporting. He was hit in the head and survived for several days before being taken off life support.<\/p>\n

Bejar was the first Reedley police officer killed in the line of duty in the department\u2019s 100-year history.<\/p>\n

\"Reedley Reedley police officer Javier Bejar, left, and Fresno County Sheriff\u2019s deputy Joel Wahlenmaier, right, died in the line of duty in Minkler in 2010. REEDLEY POLICE DEPARTMENT\/FRESNO COUNTY SHERIFF\u2019S OFFICE <\/p>\n

According to reporting following the shootout, the suspect, Rick Liles, \u201cused prescription drugs, experienced hallucinations, was always armed.\u201d He had told relatives \u201cthat he was willing to die, and would \u2018take some cops out,\u2019 and then kill himself,\u201d The Bee reported.<\/p>\n

Liles was eventually found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. After the shootout, officers found police scanners, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, four rifles (two with scopes), six semi-automatic pistols and two revolvers inside his home.<\/p>\n

That shootout came nearly a decade after two Fresno County Sheriff\u2019s deputies were killed in separate instances nine months apart.<\/p>\n

\"Fresno Fresno County Sheriff’s deputy Erik Telen is shown in an undated handout photo with his daughters. Telen was killed in 2001 in a shooting in Dunlap. SPECIAL TO THE BEE <\/p>\n

Erik Telen and his partner were investigating a break in at an unoccupied home near Dunlap in 2001, when, according to The Fresno Bee, he was shot with \u201calmost a full load of buckshot … killing the deputy instantly.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was the first time that a Fresno County deputy had been killed in the line of duty in almost a century.<\/p>\n

In May of the following year, deputy Dennis Phelps was shot in the face during a routine traffic check near Locan and Shepherd avenues. Following the shooting, the suspect stole the deputy\u2019s cruiser and drove to the foothills, where he evaded law enforcement for nearly a week.<\/p>\n

Mark Charles Volpa Jr., was eventually killed by SWAT officers at Big Sandy Rancheria in what The Bee described at the time as \u201ca hail of gunfire,\u201d that \u201cpenetrated the man\u2019s heart, liver and lungs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Deputy Deputy Dennis Phelps was shot and killed east of Clovis in 2002. FRESNO COUNTY SHERIFF\u2019S OFFICE <\/p>\n

Fresno Police Department hasn\u2019t had an officer die from gunfire since the late 1970s, according to the Officer Down Memorial page.<\/p>\n

In that case officer Lanny \u201cSkip\u201d Stevenson was off duty when he was shot to death while trying to break up a fight outside a party. At trail, the shooter claimed the gun went off accidentally, according to a story in The Fresno Bee in 1980.<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n

Joshua Tehee<\/a><\/p>\n

The Fresno Bee<\/p>\n

Joshua Tehee covers breaking news for The Fresno Bee, writing on a wide range of topics from police, politics and weather, to arts and entertainment in the Central Valley.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Tulare County Sheriff\u2019s deputy was shot and killed while responding to calls for assistance at home in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":262714,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-262713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262713","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=262713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}