Former serviceman and friend of suspect in Santa Cruz deputy killing “shocked”

BEN LOMOND, Calif. (KION) Santa Cruz County Sheriff Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller was killed when officers responded to a report of a suspicious van, Saturday afternoon.

Following the ambush on police, the suspected killer Steven Carrillo, fled the scene. He ended up in the backyard of a neighbor who confronted him.

Investigators said Carrillo asked the man for his keys to his truck.

“He obtained a key and handed it to him. When the suspect turned around, the resident tackled him,” Sheriff Jim Hart said.

The man, who wants to stay anonymous, managed to knock a gun and pipe bomb out of the suspects hand. At that point, Eric Thom, who was in the area, heard a cry for help and he and his dog Brown went running in that direction.

“I didn’t even think twice. It was a knee jerk reaction. I instinctively ran over there,” Thom said.

The pair pinned down the suspect until deputies arrived and made the arrest.

“He told me that he was done fighting the fight. That he didn’t want to fight the fight. Then he said some stuff about Afghanistan,” Thom said.

The suspected killer, Carrillo, was active duty military. He was a Staff Sergeant at the Travis Air Force Base and had completed the Air Force's elite "Raven" security training. Air Force officials told the CBS affiliate in the Bay Area that Carrillo was a "Phoenix Raven Team Leader."

The training is a two week, 12 hour per day course that "covers cross-cultural awareness, legal considerations, embassy operations, explosive ordinance awareness and more."

Read more about the Phoenix Ravens here.

In an interview with KION, a former serviceman and friend of Carrillo's said he was shocked by the news and had talked to Carrillo just last month.

“I was talking to him a few weeks ago about future financial goals setting things up for him, and meanwhile he’s potentially building IED's in his home,” Justin Ehrhardt said.

Ehrhardt said Carrillo was still mourning the death of his wife, who allegedly committed suicide in 2018, but otherwise seemed normal.

"I've spoken with a lot of friends that we were stationed with, and a lot of them are saying this is completely unexpected. At the end of the day I'm not ever going to condone his actions. What he did was completely terrible, but you truly never know what someone is going through and what they're planning," Ehrhardt said.

Ehrhardt shared with KION Facebook posts from that last week from Carrillo that are focused on condemning police brutality. Ehrhardt said he was always anti-establishment, but it never seemed extreme.

Monday, Waldeberg Court in Ben Lomond was still an active crime scene with FBI investigators combing through evidence.

“They are finding bomb making equipment, pipe bombs, multiple fire arms a large amount of ammunition, and they are going through all that evidence,” Hart said.

The FBI is also looking into if Carrillo and his van have any correlation to the murder of a federal security officer in Oakland about two weeks ago.

“I cannot provide, and will not provide, details or comment any further on the van. This is a complex and very active investigation,” FBI Special Agent in Charge John Bennett said.

In a press conference Monday afternoon, investigators said they are not ruling out the possibility of a second suspect.