22-year-old California police officer shot to death while responding to ‘routine’ car accident

Natalie Corona, a 22-year-old police officer from California, was killed while responding to a routine traffic collision. The suspect later shot himself.

On January 10, Officer Corona attended the scene of a three-car crash. Once there, a man later identified as Kevin Limbaugh, 48, rode up to the accident on a bicycle and shot Corona once.

After that, he kept shooting at her and the bystanders, hitting a firefighter on the boot and another person on their backpack. Limbaugh fled the scene and hid in a nearby home with his roommate, who apparently didn’t know what had happened.

FINDING THE KILLER

Davis Police Chief Darren Pytel reported that, apart from Corona, nobody else got injured. Thanks to a backpack Limbaugh left in the scene, the police managed to track him down to the house he was hiding in.

When officers surrounded it, the man got outside wearing a bulletproof vest. After a while, he got back into the house and went out with the vest and a gun. Later, he got inside once again, pushed a couch against the door, and shot himself.

LEAVING A NOTE BEHIND

Limbaugh left a note on his bed revealing the reason he committed such a crime. The suicide note read,

“The Davis Police department has been hitting me with ultrasonic waves meant to keep dogs from barking. I notified the press, internal affairs, and even the FBI about it. I am highly sensitive to its affect [sic] on my inner ear. I did my best to appease them, but they have continued for years and I can’t live this way anymore.”

Emily Gomez, the cousin of the late police officer, revealed that Corona was the eldest of four daughters and that she grew up dreaming of becoming a law enforcement officer like her father.

Jose Merced Corona, the father of the 22-year-old officer, spent 26 years as a Colusa County Sheriff’s sergeant before retiring and being elected to the county’s Board of Supervisors in November 2018.

Pytel pointed out that Corona was a rising star who started working with the police department as a part-time employee volunteer. “I haven’t seen anybody work harder in a part-time capacity and be more motivated to be a police officer than Natalie,” finished Pytel.

ANOTHER OFFICER SHOT IN THE LINE OF DUTY

Chateri Payne, an off-duty Louisiana police officer, was shot four times while on her way to work on January 9, 2019. Even though Payne was rushed to the hospital, she was pronounced dead as soon as she arrived.

The Shreveport Police Department announced that they had detained a suspect for questioning, in connection to Payne's death, but the case is still under investigation.