Suspect Held in Fullerton Slaying of CHP Officer

Fullerton police arrested a suspect early Sunday in the murder of a rookie California Highway Patrol officer who was shot seven times in a chilling confrontation with a motorist in a well-lighted parking lot before 35 stunned witnesses.

Fullerton police said Sunday night that a suspect identified as Young Ho Choi, 33, of Palm Springs, had been booked and was being held in the Fullerton jail.

Fullerton Police Det. Doug Kennedy said the suspect has an extensive criminal record. He was arrested on suspicion of murdering Officer Don Burt. Kennedy said charges may be brought Tuesday after a review by the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Burt, 25, the son of a CHP sergeant, was trying to impound a car he had pulled over when the driver began arguing and shoving Burt shortly before 9 p.m. Saturday, witnesses told police.

The driver then pulled a 9-millimeter handgun and shot Burt six times at close range, knocking him to the ground. Then the man walked closer, stood over the fallen officer, who was wearing a protective vest, and coolly fired again, sending a fatal bullet through his left eye, authorities said Sunday.

Horrified witnesses, many eating dinner at the Coco’s Family Restaurant, watched the gunman, whom they described as an Asian male, climb into the officer’s patrol car and speed off.

Fifteen minutes later, more witnesses saw him abandon the car, its lights still flashing, at a Ford dealership in Anaheim 7 miles away, and sprint into the night.

Police arrested the suspect about a block from the dealership, CHP Capt. Charles Lynd said.

From 10 p.m. to midnight, a steady parade of witnesses--some accompanied by officers and others in their own cars--drove by to identify the suspect. Several times police pulled him from the back of the cruiser, stood him up in front of an auto repair shop and shined a spotlight from a police car on him for an impromptu street lineup.

Several witnesses identified him as the shooter and he was taken into custody by Fullerton police, Lynd said.

On Sunday, the Fullerton Police Department, the agency investigating the incident, refused to elaborate on the shooting or reveal more about the suspect beyond his name.

Burt, of north Orange County, is believed to be the first CHP officer slain on duty in the county since the 1960s. He became a CHP officer in April 1995. His wife, Kristin, is 6 1/2 months pregnant with their first child. Burt’s father, also named Don, is a CHP sergeant in Riverside.

“He just decided to be what his dad was,” the father said Sunday. “I had reservations, but I never told him. I know how the times are; they’re getting worse. It’s not like when I started.

“There’s no respect for the law anymore,” the elder Burt continued. “You stop someone for a ticket and they kill you in the blink of any eye.”

The incident began about 8:30 p.m. when Burt pulled over a leased white 1995 BMW, Lynd said.

*

Authorities would not disclose why Burt stopped the vehicle in the first place, but some officers said Burt and the suspect apparently were traveling north on the Orange Freeway at the time and exited at Nutwood Avenue, driving into the large parking lot shared by Coco’s and a Chevron filling station.

A few minutes later, Burt called in a license check on the motorist, Lynd said. At that point, it appeared to be a routine traffic stop, as the computer reported the driver had a suspended license and Burt, following procedure, called a tow truck to impound the car.

Just then, a Fullerton police officer happened past the scene and signaled to Burt, asking whether he needed assistance, but Burt waved him on.

While waiting for the tow truck, Burt began searching the BMW and apparently discovered some “forged or counterfeit” traveler’s checks in the trunk, Lynd said.

At that point, witnesses saw the motorist confront Burt. Then they saw the two scuffle. Then they saw the flash of a gun.

One witness, who declined Sunday to be identified, fearing retribution, looked up to see Burt crumple to the ground. Dumbstruck, he watched the man stand near Burt and fire repeatedly.

A woman watching from her motel balcony window began screaming hysterically as the shots were fired, yelling loudly for help, and shouting, “What are you doing!” at the gunman, said Joanne DeVries, who was in the room next door.

“People started screaming and ducking,” the witness continued. “I was pretty much standing there in shock. I couldn’t believe it.”

The gunman then crouched and appeared to take something from Burt, possibly his service pistol. Lynd said Burt’s weapon and the 9-millimeter handgun were not found early Sunday morning, and police continued searching for them throughout the day.

Before he fled, the gunman, frantic and agitated, rummaged through a stack of papers Burt had taken from the suspect’s trunk and placed on the hood of the patrol car, grabbing some and sweeping others to the ground.

“He looked distraught, like he didn’t know what to do, like, ‘Oh my God, what have I done,’ ” the witness said. “We were like, ‘What’s this guy thinking, taking off in the officer’s vehicle?’ ”

That question was asked by more than two dozen officers who cordoned off an area 2 miles from Disneyland, where Burt’s car was later found.

“We wondered why he just didn’t take his own car,” said Anaheim Police Lt. Tom O’Donnell.

By 2:30 a.m., police gathered near Lincoln Avenue and Loara Street after searching around every building in the area with dogs.

The Orange County sheriff’s bloodhounds apparently picked up the gunman’s scent and headed down Lincoln Avenue, stopping at a gas station, a doughnut shop and billiard parlor. Then, shortly before 2 a.m., the dogs led deputies through a gas station to a bowling alley at Lincoln and Brookhurst Street, then to a large apartment complex next door.

At that point, the dog search, which had continued after the suspect had been arrested, stopped.

On Sunday, police continued to scour the area for the missing guns, and searched along the route they believe the suspect traveled in Burt’s patrol car.

The shooting ended an almost storybook life. Young Don Burt was a three-sport varsity letterman at Perris High School in Riverside County, excelling in soccer, water polo and swimming. He was class president his senior year.

He wanted to be a high school teacher but changed his mind after attending college, said his father. The senior Burt, 52, a CHP officer since 1969, said he rarely worried about his own safety but always fretted about his son.

“You worry about your kids,” he said. “I worried about him all the time.”

*

To those who knew Don and Kristin Burt, married for three years, they were the proverbial perfect couple. They met at a video store where they worked and were inseparable, said friend David McPhillips of Whittier.

“He was very much in love with his wife and she loved him,” said McPhillips. “I was there the day they found out they were having a baby. She was just glowing. And he was just so happy about it.”

Sunday afternoon, a somber Kristin Burt said that she, her niece and two nephews had met Burt and Ron Stott, another CHP officer, for dinner only hours before the shooting in the same parking lot where he was killed.

“We had a really good time,” said Kristin Burt, herself the daughter and sister of Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies.

“Then he kissed me goodbye and told me he loved me and hoped he’d get home in time to be with me and the kids.”

But as soon as she returned home, Kristin Burt saw Stott searching for her condo.

Stott took her to UCI Medical Center in Orange, where her husband died at 9:48 p.m., about an hour after the shooting.

“The first thing I told the surgeon and the coroner was that I absolutely had to see him,” Kristin Burt said. “I was shaking all over until I got to see him, then I stopped. I got to hold his hand and kiss him and tell him that I loved him and that I would take care of our baby.

“I lost my best friend and the father of my baby,” she continued. “It makes it really hard for me to be happy now about the baby. This is what he wanted more than anything else in the world. I never thought I’d have to tell my baby stories about its daddy.”

When she left the hospital, Kristin Burt went home, put on one of her husband’s T-shirts and hugged a pregnant Teddy bear, a gift from him to celebrate her pregnancy.

Also contributing to this report was Times staff writer Lee Romney.

* COLLEAGUES

For fellow officers, time for sadness--and reflection. A3

* PAINFUL REMINDER

Families of others killed in line of duty relive their grief. A3

Memorial Fund Information

Donations to a memorial fund established for Officer Don Burt’s family can be sent to California Highway Patrol, Santa Ana, c/o Officer Don Burt Memorial Fund, 2031 E. Santa Clara Ave., Santa Ana, CA 92705.

Investigators are asking anyone with information on the shooting to call the CHP at (714) 567-6000 or (714) 223-5454.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Pursuit of a Killer

A suspect in the murder of CHP Officer Don Burt was captured in an Anaheim neighborhood 14 miles away from the scene of the shooting. After police cordoned off a section of the city, witnesses identified a man under the glare of searchlights while bloodhounds continued the search for suspects and guns. Here’s how police think the scene may have played out:

1. Officer Don Burt shot dead

2. Suspect flees south in officer’s car

3. Car abandoned

4. Suspect captured and identified by witnesses

5. Bloodhounds continue search

Area cordoned for search

Source: Times reports

Scene of a Shooting

CHP officer Don Burt was apparently traveling north on the Orange Freeway when he signaled a white BMW to pull over. Both vehicles exited at Nutwood Avenue and into a parking lot next to a Chevron station, Coco’s Family Restaurant, Chase Suites hotel and Mexican restaurant. Witnesses at both the hotel and eating at Coco’s saw the shooting.

Pepe’s Mexican restaurant

Coco’s Family Restaurant

Chevron station

Chase Suites hotel

Flower bed

Telephones

Suspect’s white BMW

Burt’s CHP cruiser

Burt shot six times, falls to ground; suspect stands over him and fires seventh and fatal shot into his left eye

Source: Times reports