Authorities are searching for a suspect who shot and injured a sheriff’s deputy in an ambush last week in Northern California, officials said Monday.
Santa Clara County Deputy Sukhdeep Gill was on patrol duty in Morgan Hill on Friday night when a car pulled up and someone inside opened fire, sheriff’s officials said at a news conference.
The shooter fired four times at Gill, who was standing outside his patrol vehicle, officials said. The deputy was hit once in the chest. The bullet struck his body camera, which he was wearing over his body armor, KPIX-TV reported.
Sheriff Laurie Smith called the shooting an “unprovoked sneak attack.”
Gill was treated at a hospital for a non-life-threatening injury and is recovering at home.
Gill, who has been with the sheriff’s department since 2015, is a practicing Sikh who wears a traditional turban. The sheriff’s office said it is unclear if the shooting was a hate crime or a crime of opportunity against law enforcement.
Authorities are searching for a late-model silver sedan, possibly a Honda.
