Martinez cop, woman slain - gunman dead

Martinez cop, woman slain - gunman dead
Henry K. Lee, Rachel Gordon,Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writers

Sunday, September 7, 2008


(09-06) 16:54 PDT MARTINEZ -- A gunman in search of his estranged wife killed her cousin and a police sergeant in Martinez on Saturday morning before officers fatally shot the suspect, according to authorities as well as friends and relatives of the dead.

A shaken Martinez police chief announced that Sgt. Paul Starzyk, a 12-year veteran of the force, was shot to death after he responded to a domestic violence call at Elegant Hair Design, a beauty salon on Pacheco Boulevard, near Morello Avenue and across the street from the Shell Martinez Refinery. He leaves behind a wife, who is a deputy sheriff with Contra Costa County, and three young children.

Starzyk, a 47-year-old Antioch resident, was airlifted by helicopter to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek but did not survive his life-threatening injuries, said Police Chief Tom Simonetti.

"As a department and a community, we are devastated by this tragedy," Simonetti said. "We are a department in mourning."

According to police and witnesses, Jose Felix Sandoval, the suspected gunman, arrived at the shop with a gun, broke a window and said he was looking for his wife, Margarita Sandoval, the owner of the salon. He was told she wasn't there, and patrons and workers began to flee.
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