The Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department announced Thursday the man suspected to have shot and killed a police officer during a traffic stop in Newman was allegedly in the country illegally.
Officer Ronil Singh, 33, pulled over the suspect around 1:00 a.m. Wednesday for a suspected DUI investigation and just a few moments later reportedly called out "shot fired" over the radio.
"Multiple agencies responded to assist, and Singh was found at the scene with gunshot wounds," the sheriff's department said in a news release. Singh was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson said the suspect has been identified but his name is not being released. "It's not appropriate for me to identify (the suspect) until we absolutely are 100% certain that we have the right name," Christianson said. "There was a gunfight," he said. "Singh tried to defend himself."
The suspect took off in a silver or gray extended-cab Dodge Ram 1500 pickup, police said.
Surveillance images portray the suspect as a "heavyset man with dark, closely cropped hair" and CHP describes him as Hispanic.
"Our Newman police family is devastated by the loss of Ronil," Police Chief Randy Richardson said, urging anyone with useful information to help investigators "get this cop killer off the streets."
Singh was with the Newman Police Department since July 2011.
Read more at CNN.
Photo: Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department