Rookie Sacramento police officer killed in domestic disturbance

By Alex Dobuzinskis

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A rookie police officer in California's capital city has died after she was shot at the scene of a domestic dispute, spurring a standoff and exchange of gunfire with the suspect, who surrendered early on Thursday, police said.

Sacramento police Officer Tara O'Sullivan, 26, was with her training officer when they responded to a domestic disturbance call on Wednesday evening, the city's deputy police chief, Dave Peletta, said at a news conference.

O'Sullivan and a fellow officer were helping a woman take her belongings out of a house in the city when a man in the house opened fire and struck O'Sullivan, police said. She fell on the lawn outside the house and other officers took cover.

Her fellow officers could not get to her right away because of the gunman, Peletta said, but after about 45 minutes police used an armored vehicle to reach O'Sullivan. She was transported to a hospital where she died.

"We are devastated," Peletta said. "She gave her young life while protecting our community."

Police evacuated the neighborhood and the shooter held off police for nearly eight hours until a police negotiator persuaded him to surrender at about 2 a.m. local time, Sacramento police said in a statement.

During the standoff, the suspect shot at police, who returned fire, the statement said. Five officers who used their firearms have been placed on leave, as is routine in officer-involved shooting cases.

The statement did not identify the suspect and a representative for Sacramento police could not immediately be reached for comment.

"To Tara's parents and family, and Tara's fellow officers, I am so sorry," Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said in a statement. "As a father I am grieving with you."

No other officers were reported injured.

(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; editing by Larry King and Jonathan Oatis)