Deputy shot, killed

A veteran South Valley law enforcement officer died Monday afternoon after being shot earlier in the day near Ivanhoe.

The suspected killer was being held without bail late Monday night on suspicion of murder.

Tulare County SheriffÂ’s Department Detective Kent Haws died at about 3:10 p.m. at Kaweah Delta District Hospital in Visalia from unspecified injuries he suffered during Monday afternoonÂ’s shooting just north of Ivanhoe, Sgt. Chris Galvez Douglass said.

Douglass did not have specific details on HawsÂ’ injuries. At a press conference around 5 p.m. Monday at the SheriffÂ’s Department headquarters in Visalia, Sheriff Bill Wittman released additional details on the events leading up to the shooting.

The 38-year-old SheriffÂ’s Department detective was investigating a report of a suspicious person in the area of Road 156 and Avenue 344 in Ivanhoe at the time of the shooting. Officials said Haws was checking out a vehicle when witnesses say he was approached by the alleged gunman.

According to information released by the SheriffÂ’s Department, the assault occurred at about 1:40 p.m. in the area of Road 156 just north of Avenue 344.

Responding immediately to reports of an officer-involved shooting, Wittman said all available patrol units proceeded to the scene.

Wittman said the suspected gunman was in custody. The suspect was later identified as Jorge Gomez Banda, 20, of Ivanhoe. Banda was being held without bail on suspicion of murder in connection with Haws' death.

Douglass remained at the crime scene in Ivanhoe more than three hours after Haws was shot. She said she attended police academy at the College of the Sequoias along with Haws in 1997 and called him a good friend.

Officials said SheriffÂ’s Department personnel will work through the night as they continue the investigation into MondayÂ’s shooting.

Haws was with the SheriffÂ’s Department for about 10 years, Douglass said. For the past three years, Haws was assigned to the SheriffÂ’s Tactical Enforcement Personnel Team. He leaves behind a wife and three young children.

The death of Haws is the third loss for the SheriffÂ’s Department since October 2005.

Deputy Kevin Eugene Elium, 34, was killed Oct. 7, 2005 when his patrol car ran off the roadway on North Main Street, on the northern edge of Porterville, while he was responding to a felony call to support fellow officers.

A SheriffÂ’s Department chaplain, Lee Sorenson, was a passenger in EliumÂ’s vehicle. Sorenson was seriously injured but survived.

Most recently, in August, Deputy Timothy Morin, 28, of Visalia, was killed in an off-duty motorcycle accident in Kern County.

Morin was on a family motorcycling trip to the Lake Isabella area, east of Bakersfield, when a motorist allowed his vehicle to drift over the double-yellow lines on Highway 178, striking MorinÂ’s motorcycle head-on.

-- Sarah Elizabeth Villicana contributed to this report. Contact The Recorder newsroom at 784-5000, Ext. 1044.