Deputies find body of suspected gunman during manhunt
The body of the person believed to be the lone suspect in a pair of Moreno Valley killings and wounding of a sheriff’s deputy was found Wednesday.
Riverside County sheriff’s officials said the body was found just off Pigeon Pass Road, where deputies had been conducting a massive manhunt following the outbreak of violence Tuesday that also sent a deputy to a hospital with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.
Sheriff’s officials said they were working to recover the body, which was found around 9 a.m., but said the person was believed to be the only suspect in Tuesday’s shootings, despite earlier reports that at least two gunmen were being sought.
The suspect’s identify has not been released. It was unclear if the suspect committed suicide.
A 74-year-old woman and her 58-year-old son-in-law were killed at separate locations Tuesday afternoon, and the deputy was briefly hospitalized. Relatives identified the 74-year-old woman as Wilma Patterson, who was shot to death early Tuesday afternoon while in an SUV parked by a gas station on Sunnymead Ranch Parkway and Old Lake Drive. The male victim was identified
by family as Derek Hardy, who was found in a residence in the 25500 block of Delphinium Avenue.
The deputy was shot after responding to an assault-with-a-deadly-weapon call in the 8500 block of Pigeon Pass Road around 2:25 p.m. Tuesday. Colleagues reported that the deputy encountered a man wearing body armor and armed with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle.
Authorities said the gun was fired outside a house at 8555 Pigeon Pass Road.
A gardener at the location apparently leapt into a ravine for cover and broke his leg. A Riverside police armored personnel carrier was brought to the scene to transport a rescue team to retrieve the 24-year-old man, who was pulled to safety and loaded into an ambulance around 4:15 p.m.
According to reports from the scene, three spent .223 shell casings were discovered, along with a towel that witnesses indicated the suspect used to conceal his identity.
Continue to follow News Channel 3 and CBS Local 2 for updates.
