Memorial

Memorial honors fallen officer

By TARMO HANNULA & TODD GUILD

Hundreds gathered on June 17 for Santa Cruz County Sherif’s Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller’s memorial at Cabrillo College under brilliant sunny skies. Gutzwiller, a former Cabrillo student and Aptos resident, was gunned down while on duty June 6 in Ben Lomond.

The event began at 7:45am with a miles-long motorcade at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk that threaded its way through Santa Cruz, Capitola and Soquel before arriving at Carl Conelly Stadium at Cabrillo’s Aptos campus. Headed up by a double-file line of more than 80 police motorcycles, the hearse carrying Gutzwiller was followed by a phalanx of first responder vehicles. Some came from as far away as San Diego, San Francisco, Fresno and Los Angeles.

Thousands of people lined the procession route.

With a huge swath of uniformed ofcers and others covering the athletic field, Gutzwiller’s flag-draped casket, carried by a half-dozen formally attired, white-gloved deputies, was ushered onto the field by the San Jose Police Emerald Society bagpipe band. They were followed immediately by his wife, Favi del Real, their 2-year-old boy, Carter, and Sherif Jim Hart.

Pastor René Schlaepfer of Twin Lakes Church welcomed the crowd and led the ceremony on a flower festooned stage.

“Today the world is undoubtedly a better place because of Damon,” he said.

The June 6 incident started when a caller in Santa Cruz County reported that they saw guns and bomb-making materials inside a white van. Police say when deputies arrived at Steven Carrillo’s Ben Lomond home, a shootout ensued, in which Carrillo killed Gutzwiller and injured deputy Alex Spencer. Carrillo fled on foot and via carjackings before being tackled by a neighbor. He was arrested shortly thereafter.

Hart said that more than 40 ofcers responded to the incident in Ben Lomond.

“It was a bad call,” Hart said, “but those people, what our people, our CHPs, what our deputies did that day saved many, many lives.”

In addition to already facing several charges in the Ben Lomond shooting, Carrillo is also facing federal murder and attempted murder charges in the shooting of two law enforcement ofcers in Oakland on May 29. His alleged accomplice, Millbrae resident Robert Justus Jr., has been charged with aiding and abetting ➝ 7 FINAL SALUTE The casket carrying the body of Santa Cruz County Sherif Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller is carried to a memorial service at Cabrillo College. His wife, Favi, and their son, Carter (at left), are escorted by Sherif Jim Hart.

Tarmo Hannula

Tarmo Hannula