Update, 12:35 p.m. Wednesday, more details from sheriff's news conference. Sheriff's office corrects age of the late suspect as 36. Information about vigil in Fairfield this evening.
was identified Wednesday as Christopher Boone Lacy, 36, of Corning in Tehama County.
CHP officer Kenyon Youngstrom, who authorities say was shot in the head by Lacy, remained in critical condition Wednesday at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek.
Late Tuesday night, authorities executed a search warrant on Lacy's Corning residence, said sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee. They seized no weapons there, Lee said, but did confiscate six computers and servers. The sheriff's office's high tech crimes unit is analyzing information on the computers.
A search of the Jeep Wrangler Lacy was driving yielded a loaded, semi-automatic handgun and a shoulder holster with two loaded magazines, additional ammunition and a knife, Lee said.
Lacy's parents, who live in Oregon, have cooperated with investigators, Lee said.
Investigators are still developing a profile of Lacy. It appears that the only crime on his record was a DUI in Marin County in 2006, Lee said. It appears he was a single man and a "loner," Lee said.
At an autopsy Wednesday morning, Lacy's cause of death was listed as "gunshot wound to the head," Lee said.
The community of Fairfield is planning to hold a candlelight vigil for Youngstrom at 7:30 p.m. tonight (Wednesday) in a park next to Oakbrook Elementary School, KCRA TV reported. Youngstrom, 37, and his wife have several children in local schools, police said.
Youngstrom is a member of a large family in the Cordelia area of Fairfield.
"Our thoughts and concerns go out to the family," said CHP Sgt. Diana McDermott at the press conference at the Contra Costa Sheriff's field office in Martinez.
McDermott said Youngstrom is someone known in the office for his thoughtfulness. "He's the type of guy who holds the door not just for you but goes back to hold the other door," she said. Youngstrom is a man of faith, she said.
Complete Patch coverage of the I-680 shooting is here.
A fateful traffic stop
At 8:20 a.m. Tuesday, Officer Youngstrom and a second CHP officer in a second patrol car, his beat partner, responded to the report of a vehicle accident at Rudgear Road and Highway 680 in Alamo. Authorities have not identified the second officer, who was uninjured physically in the confrontation, police said.
The two officers failed to locate the accident. Youngstrom agreed to meet his partner on southbound 680 to handle a dead deer on the side of the roadway, Lee said. On his way to that site, the beat partner notified Youngstrom that he was going to conduct a traffic stop on a green Jeep Wrangler for an obstructed license plate.
Youngstrom had already pulled to the side of the freeway by the dead deer, and stepped from his patrol car to direct the Jeep to the shoulder. Both CHP vehicles had pulled over. Youngstrom approached the Jeep and had a short conversation with Lacy in the driver's seat, Lee said, based on investigators' analysis of the patrol car's dashboard camera.
Without warning, Lacy produced a Glock semi-automatic handgun and shot Youngstrom in the head, police said. The officer fell into the number 4 lane of traffic, Lee said.
The beat partner heard the shot and saw Youngstrom fall. He drew his handgun and fired numerous rounds into the Jeep, critically wounding Lacy.
The officer rendered aid to Youngstrom with the help of citizens who stopped to help. Youngstrom and Lacy were transported to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, where Lacy was pronounced dead later Tuesday.
The investigation continues as to what Lacy was doing driving south on Interstate 680 with a small arsenal in his Jeep, Lee said.
The case is being investigated by the sheriff's office, the Contra Costa district attorney's office and the CHP. It is using Contra Costa County's "officer-involved fatal incident protocol."
