Off-duty California sheriff's deputy in custody after allegedly killing couple with service weapon

A Northern California sheriff's deputy has turned himself in to law enforcement after he was accused in the fatal slaying of a husband and wife in their home early Wednesday, authorities said.

Devin Williams Jr., a deputy with the Alameda County Sheriff's Office, called authorities in the hours after the shooting and said he wanted to turn himself in, officials said. Police stayed on the phone with him until the off-duty deputy was taken into custody by the California Highway Patrol near the Central Valley's city of Coalinga, about 160 miles south of the crime scene.

Police were called to a home in Dublin — a city in the East Bay about 35 miles from downtown San Francisco — around 12:45 a.m. The 911 caller said two people had been shot inside the residence and the suspect, later identified as Williams, had fled in a vehicle.

Devin Williams Jr., left, and the suspect vehicle, a 2007 Volkswagen Jetta. Dublin Police Department

Police said Williams used his service weapon in the shooting and discarded it as he fled.

Williams apparently knew the couple but investigators were still trying "to fine-tune their connection" and determine the motive, according to Alameda County sheriff's spokesperson Lt. Ray Kelly.

Both victims, whose names were not immediately released, were pronounced dead at the scene.

Kelly said a male relative of the couple who was visiting was unhurt and was talking to detectives about what occurred.

Witnesses identified the gunman as Williams, 24.

Kelly said Williams has been with the sheriff's office since September 2021 and was still on probation. He had been assigned to the Oakland courthouse and there were no concerns about his job performance.

Williams, who is from Stockton, briefly worked with the Stockton Police Department, where he completed their police academy but was ultimately let go after he failed their field training program, Kelly said.

Stockton Police spokesperson Officer Joseph Silva said he could not discuss why Williams left the department because it is a "personnel matter." He confirmed Williams worked for the Stockton Police Department from January 2020 to January 2021.

The Deputy Sheriffs' Association of Alameda County, the union that represents rank-and-file deputies, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"It's a great loss for our community and it's even more disheartening to find out it was one of our own, actually, who was the trigger person behind this tragic incident," Dublin Police Chief Garrett Holmes said during a Wednesday press conference, according to CBS Bay Area.

Holmes became emotional while giving his statement. Kelly later told reporters it was because he was the one who "talked the suspect into surrender," spending about 45 minutes on the phone with him, CBS Bay Area reported.

"This has been a very difficult day for him and for our department," Kelly said.