September 07, 2017 - 12:48 PM
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Latest on the memorial service for a Sacramento County deputy killed in a shootout (all times local):
12:35 p.m.
Hundreds of law enforcement officers are honouring a deputy killed during a shootout at a Sacramento-area hotel as a hero who kept shooting even after he was mortally wounded.
Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones recalled Deputy Robert French as a "warrior" who died in last week's gun battle with 32-year-old Thomas Daniel Littlecloud, who also later died.
Jones said at French's memorial service in Roseville Thursday that he is angry that Littlecloud was out of prison despite a long criminal record.
He says he is also angry that Littlecloud died and thus escaped the criminal justice system.
French was killed on the 10th anniversary of his parents' death in a plane crash.
Two California Highway Patrol officers also were wounded as they investigated stolen vehicles found at the hotel.
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12:45 a.m.
A deputy in a shootout at a Sacramento-area hotel was killed on the 10th anniversary of his parents' death in a plane crash.
The children of Robert French tell the Sacramento Bee (http://bit.ly/2wKNgn2 ) that on Aug. 30, 2007, his parents crashed and died at a small Northern California airport as they were taking off for a trip to Mexico.
Ten years later to the day, the 52-year-old Sacramento County deputy was shot and killed by 32-year-old Thomas Daniel Littlecloud, who also later died. Two California Highway Patrol officers were shot and wounded.
A public memorial for French is scheduled for Thursday at a church in Roseville.
His son Nicholas French told the Bee on Wednesday that he remembers getting the phone call from his crying father about his grandparents dying.
News from © The Associated Press, 2017