Incident: Tuesday, June 16, 2026.
THE CALL
A misdemeanor shoplift. Store loss prevention had already detained him and had him in the back office. He was not loose in the store. Nothing in the call mentioned a weapon. Three officers responded to write a misdemeanor theft arrest.
Free — the opening chapterUnits Are SurroundedFive shootings in five months between members of the Soboba Indian Reservation and law enforcement in the Hemet area of Riverside County. My story about being in the middle of it. The full book is coming.Read how it starts
On camera he is cooperative. He tells the officer himself that he has a warrant.
WHAT HAPPENED
As an officer moved to put cuffs on him, he tried to run. He and the three officers went to the floor inside the office.
Deandrea Lamar Robertson, 33, drew a concealed handgun and fired first. Two of the three officers were struck. One officer returned fire and killed him at the scene.
Three officers were hurt and all three lived. One took two rounds to the lower body and was out of the hospital four days later. One was struck in the upper body where a ballistic vest trauma plate stopped the round, and he is the officer who fired back. The third lost his hearing and his sight temporarily from muzzle flash at contact distance.
No civilians were hurt. The store was open and busy and none of it went out into the aisles. Round counts were never released — not the officer’s, and not his.
THE BREAKDOWN
Legally this one is not hard. He pulled a gun and shot two cops. They are allowed to defend themselves and shoot back. I can clear this shooting right now.
But this isn’t a complacency story either, and that’s what people are going to want it to be. This is one of the most common calls in patrol. A shoplift, subject already detained in the loss prevention office. You’re not relying on loss prevention to do your searches for you — but if a guy has already submitted to a store security officer, he is usually going to go along with the program. Most of the time this is nothing.
That is exactly why you stay on alert.
Look at what they actually had. He’s cooperating. He volunteers that he has a warrant. Maybe he’s got a little crazy in the eyes, maybe he’s just scared of going to jail. That is not the red flag that tells you two officers are about to get shot in a small room in the next thirty seconds. The warning signs were not there.
Even when he moves, there is no gun that anybody knows about. They are not whaling on this guy, because as far as they know he is running from a shoplift and a warrant. The only red flag in the whole encounter is that he ran.
Then you are in a broom closet. He bolts for the door, goes to the ground, goes for the gun and fires immediately. Two officers shot, one of them blind and deaf from the muzzle flash.
Did they do a good job? They survived something that is not typical and that exploded in their faces. Yes. And the officer who took a round on his trauma plate is the one who put this guy down. Nice work.
There is nothing here to fix. The lesson is the one nobody wants: the call that carries no threat on paper is the call that does this.
WHERE IT STANDS
He is dead, so there is no case against him. A 26-year-old woman the department identified as his shoplifting accomplice was arrested afterward and charged with misdemeanor theft and violating conditions of release. She is not accused in the shooting.
The shooting itself has not been ruled on. The Alaska Department of Law’s Office of Special Prosecutions holds that decision and has published nothing. The department’s internal review is also still open.
Units Are Surrounded
The new book from Ray Dietrich. Five shootings in five months in Riverside County. The full book is coming - read how it starts, free.
