Vu Nguyen was a 37-year-old detective with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office who was killed on December 19, 2007, while working gang detail. Nguyen had seven years with the department and was working plainclothes with a partner when they made an unscheduled stop at a known gang house near 47th Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard. They encountered a man officers did not recognize; when the man fled on foot a foot chase through residential yards followed and the suspect opened fire, striking Nguyen in the neck and fatally wounding him.

The suspect, described in reports as a 16-year-old gang member, was apprehended and charged in connection with Nguyen’s death. Members of the community and law enforcement remembered Nguyen as a dedicated officer; he was posthumously honored with a Distinguished Service Award from the Sacramento State Alumni Association. His name is also associated with a memorial scholarship foundation and fundraising events to support families of fallen officers.

If anyone knew Detective Nguyen or has information about that night, please share what might help the record of his service and the case.