Deputy Sheriff James Warren Lehmann Jr., 42, was killed while on duty on January 5, 1997. Lehmann and his partner, Deputy Michael Haugen, answered a domestic violence call near Sagebrush Avenue and Chaparral Road in Whitewater, Riverside County, in the early morning hours. As they approached, a sniper armed with an M-1 rifle ambushed them and fired multiple shots. Lehmann was struck in the head; Haugen was shot in the side with the bullet penetrating his vest.

Neither deputy survived, and a sergeant who later arrived after losing contact with the two was also fired upon but was not injured. The assailant, identified as Timothy Russell, was apprehended later that morning after a SWAT operation; he surrendered unarmed and the M-1 rifle used in the ambush was recovered. Lehmann had three years with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, was active in his church and community, and is survived by a wife, a son, and a daughter.

Does anyone have verified information about Lehmann’s service or the scene that could add to the record?