Deputy, Suspect Die in Gunfight in Dark Field

OROVILLE, Calif. —  A sheriff’s deputy wearing a bulletproof vest was shot to death in a close-range gunfight with a domestic violence suspect, who also died in the exchange of gunfire in a dark field.

Randal Jennings, 38, who was named Oroville’s “peace officer of the year” last year by the local Rotary Club, was struck twice in the neck and once in the wrist with shots fired from a .380-caliber handgun 15 feet away. His vest blocked two other rounds.

Jennings, a nine-year veteran of the department, radioed the sheriff’s office seconds after being hit to alert the dispatcher to his wounds, authorities said. The shooting occurred shortly after 10 p.m. Wednesday.

Also dead was Poa Xiong, 34, who had been sought for questioning after authorities received a 911 call that he was beating his wife at the couple’s Thermalito home. Xiong was struck once.

“We don’t know who shot first. But in my experience, when an officer is hit five times and a suspect once, the suspect probably shot first,” Butte County Sheriff Mick Grey said Thursday.

Jennings is survived by his wife, an Oroville police officer, and his teenage stepson.