Police Kill Ex-Deputy After a Man Is Shot

A former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy was killed by Simi Valley police after his attempt to persuade a woman to leave her husband exploded in gunfire, authorities said Monday.

Bernard Edward Fernandez, 44, was shot to death Sunday after he shot Michael Gennaro, 38, police said. Gennaro is the husband of Terry Gennaro, 41, in whom Fernandez had an interest, they added.

Fernandez, a Simi Valley resident, was dead on arrival at Simi Valley Adventist Hospital, said Craig Stevens, a Ventura County deputy coroner.

Michael Gennaro was taken to the same hospital with a .38-caliber bullet lodged between his right shoulder and his neck. He was in stable condition Monday, a hospital spokeswoman said.

“He could have killed me,” Gennaro said Monday in his hospital room. “The police saved my life.”

Fernandez joined the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in November, 1973, and retired in December, 1987, for medical reasons, said sheriff’s spokesman Bob Stoneman. Stoneman refused to give further details of Fernandez’s retirement. Fernandez’s last duty station was Malibu.

Terry Gennaro called police after Fernandez had fired his gun several times, authorities said. Fernandez and Michael Gennaro were on the porch of the house, police said. After seeing that Gennaro had been shot, two officers opened fire with a .12-gauge shotgun and a 9-millimeter handgun, police reported. Fernandez was hit by five bullets and died from a 9-millimeter gunshot wound to the chest, Stevens said.

Authorities said Fernandez was divorced and had two teen-age sons who live in Simi Valley with his ex-wife. They said he recently had worked as a private investigator.