A man suspected of shooting and killing two Santa Cruz police officers on Tuesday had lived in Berkeley and worked as a barista at Cole Coffee on the Oakland-Berkeley border, according to media reports.
Jeremy Peter Goulet, 35, was shot and killed by police not long after two officers were killed at a house in Santa Cruz while answering a call, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Santa Cruz Police Chief Kevin Vogel confirmed Wednesday that the officers were killed while trying to arrest a suspect; Vogel identified them as Detective Sgt. Loran Baker and Detective Elizabeth Butler. The officers were answering a call at an address about a mile northeast of downtown at around 3:30 p.m. when the suspect opened fire.
Records show that Goulet, who had moved to Santa Cruz in September, was listed as having been a resident at an apartment complex on Benvenue Ave. near Derby St. in the Elmwood neighborhood of Berkeley. He appears to have been arrested last Friday, Feb. 22, in Santa Cruz on suspicion of drunk and disorderly conduct.
According to the Chronicle, Goulet was a licensed pilot living in Santa Cruz and had previously been living with his twin brother at an apartment on Benvenue. He also was a former Marine and military police officer, according to Oregon Live.
The Santa Cruz Sentinel reported that Goulet, who was said to have had three weapons registered to him, including a .40-caliber semi-automatic Sig Sauer and a Baretta, was fired Saturday from a job as a barista at a Santa Cruz coffee shop, possibly because of sexual harassment toward a female co-worker. Goulet had allegedly broken into the co-worker’s home Friday night and had made unwanted sexual advances toward her, according to the paper. She had filed a report with police.
Goulet had been arrested two other times for peeping at naked women, according to Oregon Live. In 2008, Goulet was sentenced to three years probation for peeping at a woman as she showered in her condominium in Portland, Ore., according to Oregon Live. He was ordered to undergo sex-offender treatment after he admitted he used his cell phone to video women surreptitiously. He had had an earlier peeping conviction in California in 2000, according to the news report.
In the Oregon case, Goulet had also been charged with a misdemeanor for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, according to Oregon Live. The boyfriend of the woman Goulet spied on spotted him near her home and jumped on him. Goulet shot off the gun during the ensuing scuffle, although he later told the court he was not trying to kill the boyfriend.
When Goulet could not get along with his probation officer, he opted to go to jail, where he served two years, according to the Sentinel.
Officer Baker, a 28-year veteran of the Santa Cruz Police Department, leaves behind a wife, two daughters and a son who is a community service officer with the Santa Cruz Police Department, officials said. Officer Butler, who had been with the force for 10 years, leaves behind her partner and two young sons.
Police Chief Vogel said Wednesday: “This is the darkest day in the history of the Santa Cruz Police Department.”
Would you like a digest of the day’s Berkeley news in your inbox at the end of your working day? Click here to subscribe to Berkeleyside’s free Daily Briefing.
