Police Capture Suspected Killer of Calif. Officer

A man charged with killing a California police officer last week surrendered at a New Hampshire hotel Tuesday after a standoff during which he told a news reporter he shot the officer to protest police brutality.

Andrew McCrae, 23, walked out of a hotel room after several hours of negotiations. He is charged in a fugitive warrant with killing Officer David Mobilio in Red Bluff, Calif., on Nov. 19.

Shortly before he gave up, authorities granted McCrae’s request to talk to a Concord Monitor reporter. Reporter Sarah Vos said the first thing McCrae told her in a phone conversation was, “I killed a police officer in Red Bluff, Calif., in an effort to draw attention to police brutality.”

McCrae was ordered held without bail after saying nothing during his arraignment by video hookup from the Merrimack County Jail. He had a bandage on his head and a blanket draped over his bare shoulders during the hearing.

Police said there had been a dispute over jail clothing but did not explain the bandage. Defense attorney Mark Sisti said McCrae had been injured, but gave no details.

Police indicated they believe McCrae also confessed to the slaying on a San Francisco news Web site.

In one of two letters posted on the site Monday by a man identifying himself as McCrae, the writer claims he shot and killed the officer to protest “police-state tactics” and corporate irresponsibility.

Mobilio, 31, was shot once in the head as he refueled his cruiser. He was the first officer killed in the line of duty in Red Bluff, a city of 13,500 near Sacramento. Hundreds were expected at a memorial Tuesday.

Prosecutor Scott Murray called the slaying “an ambush, an execution of a police officer ... to effectuate [McCrae’s] political agenda.”