Behind the Badge
Around 8:24 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 13, in Stanislaus County, Deputy Dennis Wallace entered the Fox Grove Park fishing access to investigate a suspicious vehicle and person. Dispatchers told Deputy Wallace the vehicle was stolen, so he requested another police unit be sent to the scene.
As deputies were responding to assist Deputy Wallace, dispatchers attempted to contact him but did not receive a response. The first deputy arrived on scene within 5 minutes and found Deputy Wallace down with gunshot injuries and called for help. Deputy Wallace was transported to the hospital where he died from his injuries.
The suspect was identified as David Machado.
Suspect David Machado. Photo from Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Dept. Facebook page
About 20 minutes after the shooting, Deputies received a call of a carjacking that occurred in the community of Keyes. The victim identified Machado as the suspect in the carjacking. The stolen vehicle also was found abandoned nearby.
“In seconds, he was murdered,” Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson said. “We believe that Deputy Wallace was killed outside of the car, and we know for a fact that the gun used in this crime was in direct contact with his head when the trigger was pulled twice. This was an execution.”
Machado was arrested late Sunday afternoon in Tulare County.
Deputy Wallace was a 20-year veteran of the department. He is the 56th law enforcement officer to be killed by gunfire this year in the United States. According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, that’s a 70% increase over the previous year.
