One Fremont Police Officer Injured in Shootout Back at Work

FREMONT, CA — Two Fremont Police officers who were seriously wounded in a shootout after a traffic stop in June have reached major milestones in their recoveries, according to police officials.

One of the officers is now back working at the Police Department at full duty and the other was released from the hospital and is "making great strides in his personal recovery," police said.

The officers' names weren't released.

Both were shot by Gerald Villabrille Jr., 44, of San Jose after he was pulled over on Fremont Boulevard while driving a stolen pickup truck on June 1, police said.

Villabrille backed into a patrol car and opened fire on an officer, critically wounding him, then fled on foot.

Two other passengers in the truck also fled, according to police.

Officers chased Villabrille to the backyard of a nearby home, where more gunfire was exchanged. It was there that Villabrille shot a second officer, a detective with 10 years experience, police said.

Villabrille continued to flee and ended up barricading himself in a home, where he fatally shot himself in the head after a lengthy standoff, according to the Alameda County coroner's bureau.

The home where he was hiding burned to the ground after officers shot teargas inside.

— Bay City News