Full Notification

On Wednesday, April 2, 2014, the Petaluma Police Department received notification from the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office that Sheriff’s Office personnel had been involved in a fatal incident in the 200 block of Hoff Road in Kenwood, CA. The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office informed Petaluma Police that they were invoking the Sonoma County Law Enforcement Chief’s Association’s Fatal Incident Protocol and requested that the Petaluma Police Department assume the primary role in the investigation.
The Petaluma Police Department summoned the assistance of the evidence specialists from Santa Rosa Police Department to assist in this investigation.
This is an update as of Monday, April 7, 2014 at 1700 hrs.
As previously mentioned, the Sonoma County Coroner’s Office scheduled an autopsy of the man who died on Hoff Road in Kenwood for this morning at 9am.
The Coroner’s Office has completed an autopsy of the man who died at the scene of the law enforcement stand-off on April 2, 2014. The man’s identity is Miguel Angel Garcia, 32 yrs. of age, with a last known residence in Napa, CA. The Coroner’s Office notified the Petaluma Police Department, earlier this date, that Miguel Garcia’s cause of death has been determined to be from a single, close-contact gunshot wound to the chest. Miguel Garcia did not suffer any other gunshot wounds. Additional information, such as toxicology reports, are not available at this time.
Evidence seized from the crime scene is still being analyzed and one assault-style rifle has been recovered from within the trailer that Garcia occupied just prior to his death. Based on the evidence collected thus far, the preliminary determination appears that Garcia’s death is a result of a single, self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest.
This is an active criminal investigation. Anyone with information concerning this incident is urged to contact Petaluma Police Detective Tami Shoemaker at 707.778.4444 or Detective Joel Stemmer at 707.778.4532.
This press release was prepared by Special Operations Lieutenant Matthew Stapleton. Lieutenant Stapleton can be reached at 778-4458 or at [email protected]