Shooting Leaves Officer Near Death, Man Slain : Law enforcement: Newport Beach authorities believe the two exchanged gunfire but don’t know why.

A Newport Beach police officer was clinging to life Sunday after being shot in the head, possibly in exchanging gunfire with a suspect who was found dead by his side, police said.

Authorities were trying to piece together the circumstances leading up to the extraordinary double shooting, which took place about 4:10 a.m. on 16th Street where it ends beside Newport Harbor Lutheran Church, on the west side of Upper Newport Bay.

“At this point we have more questions than answers,” said Newport Beach Police Sgt. Andy Gonis.

Officer Robert Henry, 30, was in “very critical” condition with a portion of a bullet in his brain after several hours of surgery at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, Gonis said. A five-year veteran, Henry is married and a father of three children, including a 3-week-old infant, Gonis said.

“We are understandably upset and hoping for the best,” said Lt. Jim Carson, who said the mood at the Police Department on Sunday was somber but hopeful. Henry is “the kind of guy everyone likes,” Carson said. “He is a real family man.”

Henry was the first officer shot while on duty in the city in about 25 years, Gonis said.

Police identified the suspect in the officer’s shooting as Carlos Caicedo, 24, of Garden Grove. Family members said Caicedo was an Army veteran, had never been in trouble and has a 4-year-old son.

“For all of us, it’s rather a shock, unbelievable,” said Paul Caicedo, the dead man’s cousin. “He’s always been a very level-headed person. . . . There was nothing that would indicate something like this, not from him.”

Henry and Caicedo were found lying next to each other on the ground behind a red compact car parked at the end of 16th Street. Henry’s patrol car was about 50 feet away in the parking lot of the church, which is at 798 Dover Drive. The area is often used by officers to handle paperwork and other duties between calls, police said.

Police answering a report of “shots fired” said it initially appeared as though a single body was lying on the ground. But as officers approached, they were stunned to find Henry, Gonis said. At first they feared the worst but then saw Henry move his fingers.

Two handguns--the officer’s revolver and a weapon believed used by the suspect--were found on the ground. Ballistics tests are needed to determine if the men exchanged gunfire, as is suspected, Gonis said.

Officers found the compact with its passenger-side door open, leading to speculation that a third person may have been involved, police said.

Later, Police Sgt. Mike McDonough said “there was alcohol at the scene in the suspect’s car.” The officer made no radio report prior to the shooting. He had not reported seeing a suspicious person.

For several hours Sunday morning, police dogs and helicopters equipped with infrared devices searched an adjacent grassy area known as the Upper Castaways and nearby streets and fields.

Police said the officer may have been sitting in his patrol car when he saw suspicious activity and walked over to the other car. Dispatchers initially radioed Henry to answer the report of shots fired.

“The officer should have answered, it’s his patrol area, and when he didn’t, it raised some suspicions,” but they didn’t expect to find out he was involved, Gonis said.

As is routine in apparent officer-involved shootings, the Orange County district attorney’s office began Sunday to investigate the incident, and a departmental investigation is also underway, Gonis said.

Doctors briefed police and district attorney’s investigators in the hospital chapel Sunday, Carson said. Officers who worked the crime scene were offered counseling. The 132-officer department also was comforted by shows of support from other departments.

Throughout the day Sunday, family members and others kept a grim vigil at the hospital while city officials and a steady stream of officers from throughout Orange County visited. Private security was hired to guard the officer’s room.

Newport Beach Mayor John W. Hedges offered condolences: “Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.”

Hospital officials referred all calls to the police, and Gonis said the officer remained in “very critical” condition, adding that the next 72 hours were crucial.

Parishioners at Newport Harbor Lutheran Church arriving for the 9:15 a.m. service were shaken to learn of a shooting just outside the grounds of their house of worship.

Grant Bertolet, president of the church council, said church officials debated canceling services but decided instead to urge worshipers to say a prayer for the officer and his family.

“It was very upsetting for people,” Bertolet said. “I told them to pray for the officer.”

Church windows facing the crime scene were masked before services began, the Rev. Bill Kirlin-Hackett said.

“This is too close for comfort,” he said. “It’s the last thing we would expect.”

Caicedo’s body remained on the ground until 10:55 a.m. while police continued gathering evidence. The body was removed shortly after church services ended Sunday morning. The license plates on the red car were covered with paper.

“We’re all under God’s wings,” churchgoer Edward Watkins of Costa Mesa said as he left the service. “It’s always sad to see something happen to a person involved in law enforcement.”

Henry was recalled Sunday by his colleagues as a popular officer dedicated to work and to working out in the Police Department gym. But most of all he was recalled as a young man who most prized his family life. If he wasn’t at work or in the gym, he was home with his children, officers said.

Henry was also conscious of the need to take precautions on the city’s streets, police officials said.

“We train officer safety, we talk it, we live it,” Carson said. “He was a good street cop and he was well trained in safety tactics.”

Meanwhile, Caicedo’s family was mourning their loss. Relatives described him as a young man who sometimes worked as a security guard and also assisted in his parents’ office-cleaning business.

“He was a very, very good young boy,” said Gus Caicedo, an uncle.

Carlos Caicedo was born in the United States but his family’s roots are in Colombia, and word of his death had spread there by Sunday afternoon, Gus Caicedo said.

Carlos Caicedo’s mother, Mary, was stricken at news of her son’s death and was taken to a hospital Sunday afternoon, Gus Caicedo said. The dead man’s sister, who is in the Marine Corps stationed in Tampa Bay, Fla., was flying home to Garden Grove on Sunday night to be with her parents.

Gonis said on Sunday that officers were stunned but are always braced for such news.

“It’s a horrible surprise, but not a shock with the way things have been going,” Gonis said. “Is this a sad commentary on society? Yes.”

Authorities asked that anyone with information call (800) 550-6273.

Times staff writers Anna Cekola and Mike Wagner contributed to this report.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Gunfire in Newport Beach

A police officer was near death Sunday after being shot in the head, possibly in exchanging shots with a Garden Grove man who was found dead by his side, police said. The officer’s family and colleagues kept a grim vigil at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, while the slain man’s family members mourned their loss.