This Sunday, 35-year-old Edgar Espinoza of Hanford, CA, was shot and killed by sheriff’s deputies just after 11:00 P.M. Officers arrived at the scene after several 9-1-1 calls about a man engaging in an aggressive chase with a child. They arrived in the nick of time: As they approached Espinoza’s white Silverado, they saw the frantic child struggling against Espinoza and crying out for help, saying his father was trying to kill him.
Deputies tried to pull the boy out through the truck window, but Espinoza fought back, put his son in a choke hold, and held what officers called a “large military-style knife” to his throat. That’s when one of the deputies fired several rounds, hitting Espinoza.
“Upon being hit by gunfire, Edgar shouted ‘kill me, kill me,’ while attempting to inflict injury to the child,” officials reported to the press. “Noticing Edgar was likely going to inflict serious injury to the child, a deputy fired additional shots and was then successful in rescuing the child.”
After being treated in the hospital for injuries sustained during the event, the boy was reunited with his mother.
“I couldn’t be more proud of their actions,” the sheriff told reporters.
Following his ordeal, the 9-year-old child told the deputies that shortly before the incident, Espinoza had told him, “We are going to die tonight.” The boy also said that Espinoza had a gun in the vehicle.
“These two deputies acted bravely in the face of danger and without hesitation jumped in to save a child’s life,” the sheriff added in the news release. “The child also was very brave in his attempts to flee and immediately alert the deputies on scene that his father was trying to kill him. He is a brave young man and we are grateful that he is safe and back with his mother.”