California Shooting Suspect is Still At Large

UPDATE: Authorities have confirmed that both suspects, one woman and 34-year-old Marcelo Marquez, have been arrested. Two of the three deputies shot Friday have died.

Authorities are reporting Friday that three police officers and one civilian, were shot in Sacramento and Placer counties by a heavily armed man and woman, and the pair of suspects are still at large. The hunt has reportedly been continuing since 10:30 am PT, when a sheriff's deputy was shot outside a Motel 6 in the California state capitol of Sacramento. The vehicle being sought, according to reports, is a red 2002 Ford F-150 truck, with the license plate 8J34411.

According to the CHP, it was carjacked following the initial shooting, and subsequent reports of shots fired have following sightings of the vehicle into Placer County. All schools in the Auburn area have been locked down in accordance with this frightening active threat.

According to KCRA, Sgt. Lisa Bowman of the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department gave the department’s understanding of how the incident played out: After the shooting of the sheriff’s deputy in Sacramento, a man and woman successfully carjacked the truck, following a pair of other carjacking attempts which left another person shot. Since then, two more officers in Placer County have been shot. Bowman said the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department received "credible information" that the suspect was spotted changing clothes in the city of Carmichael, also in Sacramento County. Sad to say, to this point, the status of the victims is unclear.

It's yet another recent instance of an attack on police officers spurring an urgent manhunt, which is likely very harrowing for the communities throughout Sacramento and Placer counties. It's a feeling which the people of Northeastern Pennsylvania can likely relate to, with the hunt for police shooting suspect Eric Frein (accused of killing one state trooper and wounding another) now having spanned more than a month. And while Sacramento-area authorities have only been searching for this suspected gunman for a matter of hours, the human toll is already considerable — at least four people shot, and conditions yet unknown.

At present, authorities are reportedly focusing their search in the area of south Auburn. The suspect, according to News 10 ABC, is described by authorities as a Latino man in his 30s, with "a medium build, buzzed haircut, approximately 30 years old, and wearing a blue, black and white checkered shirt with a long-sleeve, white shirt underneath." CBS News cites reports that he may be in a home in Auburn now, though until there's official word of his apprehension, do yourself a favor and exercise caution, if you're out there. It's really horrible how often things like this seem to be happening lately, and hopefully nobody else gets hurt in this.

Images: Mark Day/Twitter