The California Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the fatal shooting by law enforcement of a former Sacramento County sheriff’s deputy, the state agency said Wednesday.  

A vehicle pursuit of Marvin Morales, who allegedly fatally stabbed his 11-year-old son in Elk Grove on Tuesday, led to his fatal shooting near Lodi, multiple law enforcement agencies said.   

Just after 8:30 a.m., California Highway Patrol officers were involved in a multi-agency pursuit of Morales stemming from a woman notifying Elk Grove police at 8 a.m. that she was worried about the safety of her two children who were home with their father, Morales, 40. 

When officers did a well-being check in the 7600 block of Ferrell Way, they found the boy who had been stabbed and another 6-year-old child who was unharmed. Police said Morales “took off” before officers arrived, leading to the multi-agency pursuit. The child was pronounced dead at a hospital.   

The CHP pursuit took place on southbound Interstate Highway 5 and officers used spike strips to try to disable the fleeing vehicle, causing the car to crash on I-5 south of state Highway 12, the CHP said. Morales’ car veered off the road and did not hit any other vehicles, according to the CHP.  

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office said Sheriff Jim Cooper initially saw Morales’ vehicle traveling south on Highway 5 near Pocket Road and notified multiple agencies, including the CHP.  

After the crash, officials with multiple agencies opened fire at Morales, who was shot and later died at a hospital. The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office said at least two deputies with their office were involved in the shooting, along with officers from other agencies. 

The two deputies are on administrative leave, according to the Sheriff’s Office. 

Details about what led to the shooting have not been released, but Attorney General Rob Bonta on Wednesday announced his office is investigating the shooting under Assembly Bill 1506, a state law that requires the state DOJ to investigate any shooting deaths of unarmed civilians by law enforcement. 

Anyone with information about the case can call the state DOJ’s office at (916) 210-2871. 

Morales resigned from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office in 2024 after an internal affairs report, later made public, showed he ingested fentanyl taken from a suspect. Body-worn camera footage of Morales unconscious on the bathroom floor at the Sheriff’s Office in 2023 went viral at the time. Deputies can be seen administering him the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone, most likely saving his life.   

Sacramento Sheriff’s deputies attempted to revive fellow Deputy Marvin Morales, who was found unconscious in a bathroom in Sacramento, Calif., on Oct. 24, 2025, after allegedly smoking fentanyl. Morales was later suspected in the stabbing of an 11-year-old, who died in Elk Grove, Calif., on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. (Sacramento Sheriff’s Office via Bay City News)

“We mourn with the community, who is mourning at this time as well,” said CHP Valley Division Chief Tyler Eccles in a statement released by his office. “We commit, on behalf of the California Highway Patrol, with our partners, to conduct the investigation that needs to be done.”  

Katy St. Clair got her start in journalism by working in the classifieds department at the East Bay Express during the height of alt weeklies, then sweet talked her way into becoming staff writer, submissions editor, and music editor. She has been a columnist in the East Bay Express, SF Weekly, and the San Francisco Examiner. Starting in 2015, she begrudgingly scaled the inverted pyramid at dailies such as the Vallejo Times-Herald, The Vacaville Reporter, and the Daily Republic. She has her own independent news site and blog that covers the delightfully dysfunctional town of Vallejo, California, where she also collaborates with the investigative team at Open Vallejo. A passionate advocate for people with developmental disabilities, she serves on both the Board of the Arc of Solano and the Arc of California. She lives in Vallejo.