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Suspect held in killing of animal control officer near Sacramento

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The suspect in the fatal shooting of an animal control officer trying to retrieve pets from a Sacramento County home was taken into custody early Thursday after an all-night standoff, authorities said.

Joseph Francis Corey, 65, was arrested around 5 a.m. by members of a SWAT team who got in through the home’s garage, according to Sheriff’s Sgt. Jason Ramos. Ramos said Corey was unaware of the officers’ presence.

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They rushed him when he went to retrieve one of his dogs and took him into custody. He was taken to a hospital as a precaution because officers used some force during the arrest, Ramos told the Associated Press.

Corey, 65, had been evicted from his home Tuesday, but had several animals at the home. The Sacramento County Animal Control officer, identified by FOX40 sources as Roy Marcum, and a bank officer went to Corey’s home Wednesday to take custody of eight to 10 dogs and cats.

Police had surrounded the two-story house in Galt, about 20 miles south of Sacramento, following the Wednesday afternoon shooting. The Sacramento Bee reported that his home had been taken over by a bank in 2011. The animal control officer, who also was accompanied by a bank employee, went there to tend to the pets after Corey had apparently complained he had nowhere to take the animals. When the pair knocked, Corey fired a shotgun through the door, hitting the officer’s torso, Ramos said. The bank employee flagged down a police volunteer, who helped pull the officer to safety, but paramedics were unable to revive him, Ramos said.

The bank official suffered minor injuries but was not hit by gunfire. Ramos said it was not known what exactly set Corey off.

“What made him take the actions Wednesday that he didn’t take Tuesday when officers had contact with him, who knows,” Ramos said.

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