South Lake Tahoe Police officers credited with preventing mass shooting

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Officers with the South Lake Tahoe Police Department were honored Thursday for their roles in the apprehension of a triple-homicide suspect on April 26, 2019.

The suspect allegedly wanted to kill more victims at South Lake Tahoe's Heavenly Village, making the officers' heroic actions that night even more important to the public's safety, according to SLTPD Chief Brian Uhler.

At 9:40 p.m. on that Friday night, SLTPD Officer Octavio Nava noticed a car matching the one on a "be on the lookout" notice from earlier in the day. That notice said triple-homicide suspect, Stefon Jefferson, was driving a black Toyota stolen from one of the murder victims. Jefferson allegedly shot and killed one man in each Oakland, Berkeley and San Francisco before heading to Lake Tahoe. And now that car was by Nava near Tahoe Tom's in South Lake Tahoe at Stateline.

Nava attempted to pull Jefferson over, but instead, the suspect led him on a high-speed chase into Nevada over Kingsbury Grade. The officer was joined by other SLTPD officers as they kept up the pursuit as the Douglas County Sheriff's Office (DCSO) was ahead on Kingsbury Grade, preparing to stop Jefferson at the bottom of the road by Foothill Road.

Jefferson crashed the vehicle and engaged in gunfire with DCSO. One sergeant was shot in the hand and Jefferson was grazed by a bullet, then arrested.

According to NBC Bay Area, Jefferson had a list of people he wanted to kill but it is unknown who was on that list. It is still unclear why the suspect headed towards Lake Tahoe.

Uhler said that during the course of the investigation and interviews with the suspect, law enforcement said Jefferson saw people at the Heavenly Village in South Lake Tahoe and wanted to head in and kill more people at the popular spot.

The San Francisco Police Department's Homicide Division sent 187 Challenge Coins to Chief Uhler to hand out to the officers. 187 is the code for homicide and the coins are issued for outstanding performance of duty.

The honored South Lake Tahoe Police officers were Officer Nava, Sgt. Nick Carlquist, Officers Matt Morrison, Johnny Spaeth, Linda Beltran, Jason Fritz, Grant Fagen and John Toderian.

The head of the SF Homicide Division wrote to Chief Uhler, expressing his appreciation for the work of the officers.

Jefferson is facing five felony counts, including attempted murder with the use of a deadly weapon in Douglas County before answering to murder charges in the Bay Area. At first, he said he wanted to represent himself, then decided to have a public defender.

"First and foremost, I want to apologize to the city and to all the people that were involved with the fiasco involving me," Jefferson said when he appeared in a Douglas County, Nevada courtroom on April 29. "First and foremost, I want to apologize to everyone. I was born in America so I was born a free man."

Please forgive me," Jefferson added. "My intentions were never to hurt anyone."