Suspect in California officer's shooting death is captured

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A suspected drunken driver accused of fatally shooting the California police officer who pulled him over was captured today as he tried to flee back to Mexico, where he lived before illegally crossing into the U.S., authorities said.

The sheriff whose agency was leading the investigation blamed California's sanctuary law for preventing local authorities from reporting Gustavo Perez Arriaga's previous arrests to federal immigration officials. If the suspect had been deported, he said, Cpl. Ronil Singh of the tiny Newman Police Department would still be alive.

"We can't ignore the fact that this could have been preventable," Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson said, asking why the state was "providing sanctuary for criminals [and] gang members. It's a conversation we need to have."

After a statewide manhunt, Perez Arriaga was arrested on a murder warrant in a house near Bakersfield, about 200 miles southeast of the scene of the shooting.

As a SWAT team prepared to raid the house, Perez Arriaga came out with his hands up and surrendered. He was taken back to Stanislaus County in the slain officer's handcuffs, Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said.

Perez Arriaga crossed the border in Arizona several years ago and had worked a variety of jobs as a laborer, including at several dairies. He also had two prior arrests for driving while intoxicated, Christianson said.

The 33-year-old Mexico native had gang affiliations and multiple Facebook pages with different names, the sheriff said.

The shooting on Wednesday came amid an intense political fight over immigration, with President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats at odds over funding for a border wall that has forced a partial government shutdown.