Slain Burglary Suspect Identified As C.O.D. Football Player
A burglary suspect who was shot and killed Thursday by a Riverside County sheriff’s deputy has been identified as Frank Tanuvasa, 20.
Tanuvasa was a College of the Desert football player.
The deputy said he saw Tanuvasa running from a location in the 77800 block of Michigan Drive, where someone had reported a burglary shortly after 12:30 a.m., Deputy Angel Ramos said.
“A struggle between the officer and the suspect ensued. During the physical confrontation, the officer fired his service weapon at the suspect, injuring him,” Ramos said.
Tanuvasa was treated by paramedics and taken to Eisenhower Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, according to Ramos and the Riverside County Coroner’s Office.
Joel Felix is a sophomore wide receiver for COD, and he told News Channel 3’s Philippe Djegal that “the whole team is down right now about this. That was our No. 1 (offensive lineman). Whatever happened, it went out the wrong way.”
The COD athletic director, Dean Dowty, called a special team meeting in the afternoon to notify all of the football players of what happened.
“We made sure there were several counselors at that meeting so that students had an opportunity to connect with those counselors if they need to,” he said.
The deputy, whose name was not released, was placed on paid administrative leave, which is sheriff’s department policy in deputy-involved shootings, Ramos said.
Ramos said two other suspects fled the scene. Other deputies at the scene used a Taser in an attempt to stop one of the other suspects, but both escaped, Ramos said.
Anyone with information was asked to call investigators at (760) 393- 3500 or (760) 836-1600.
