By Fox News .com
California police on Sunday captured a “known criminal” accused of shooting a sheriff’s deputy twice in the head at point-blank range after the officer discovered the suspect in a stolen vehicle.
Multiple tactical units had been engaged in the manhunt for David Machado, 36, who is alleged to have carjacked a driver in Keyes just minutes after he allegedly murdered Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Deputy Dennis Wallace on Sunday morning.
“We know the gun used in the crime was in direct contact with [Wallace’s] head when the trigger was pulled twice,” Sheriff Adam Christianson said during a news conference.
“This was a direct execution.”
(Sheriff’s Deputy Dennis Wallace, 53, was killed by an armed suspect Sunday morning at the Fox Grove fishing access, Christianson said. Courtesy of TurlockJournal and YouTube)
The department announced on Twitter that Machado was captured less than two hours after police asked for the public’s help in locating the man, who authorities considered armed and dangerous.
“If you see the car, if you see the suspect, call 911,” Christianson said. “Do not attempt to engage, or stop or talk to this man.”
Machado was already wanted on a felony warrant for unspecified criminal activity when Wallace, in his uniform and driving a marked police vehicle, entered the Fox Grove Recreation and Fishing Access park at 8:24 a.m.
Wallace spotted a suspicious vehicle and, after a dispatcher told Wallace the vehicle was stolen, he requested backup.
Moments later, Wallace was dead.
By the time backup arrived, the suspect was gone. The subsequent carjacking of a Kia Rio occurred at 8:40 a.m. local time. The carjacking victim identified Machado as the man who stole the car, police said.
Wallace, 53, was a 20-year veteran of the department who Christianson said was well known for his involvement in community programs such as D.A.R.E.
Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department confirms deputy killed in Hughson is Dennis Wallace, a 20-year veteran of the force.
Wallace is the fourth officer killed in the line of duty in SCSD history, according to the department’s website. The previous death occurred in April 2012 when Deputy Sheriff Robert Paris was gunned down while serving an eviction notice.
Stanislaus County is located in the Central Valley of California. The county seat is Modesto.
