Natalie was everything America could hope for in a police officer. She was young, enthusiastic, intelligent, compassionate, empathetic, and seemingly fully aware of what she was getting into with this career choice. Her father was a 26 year veteran of the Colusa County Sheriff's Department, and is now a Colusa County Supervisor.
I first met Natalie in 2016, when she was a new Community Services Officer and I was a volunteer for the Davis Police Department, helping with mundane but necessary tasks like collecting abandoned bikes from the downtown area. From the beginning, Natalie glowed. She had a huge smile all the time, and was ready and willing to help out any way she could. She became one of us, the volunteer corps, sometime later when her grant funding ran out, but that didn't deter her a bit from her goal. She continued on as a PD volunteer while going to school and working a couple of jobs to pay expenses.
She graduated from the police academy last summer, and was hired by the Davis Department as a new recruit. After six months of training with a few patrol officers, she was ready to take on the serious job of helping people any way she could, and was assigned to night patrol, as many rookies are. In Davis, that is usually a very quiet time to be out, except for the student party noise complaints and the occasional drunk downtown.
Natalie was called to a vehicle collision downtown last Thursday evening. While investigating this minor event, she was ambushed and murdered. I listened, horrified, on the police radio until her killer was found, dead of a self inflicted gunshot. I have not slept well since.
Did I mention that Natalie was Hispanic? I hadn't realized that until recently, when I learned her last name was Corona. When I first met her, all I saw was a tall, beautiful young lady going about her job professionally. She is a member of two large immigrant families who have worked hard and established themselves as extremely productive citizens in Arbuckle. From what I have heard, everyone in Arbuckle loved Natalie.
Did I mention she was only 22 when she died? At that age, she was far more focused on what she wanted to do in life than most people. Simply put, she wanted to help people, and her father was her role model. He, and the rest of her family, supported her to reach her goals, even though her father felt she should work in Colusa County. But she loved Davis (the big city?) and the people in Davis, especially. She felt a bond with this community. And her father proudly pinned her badge on her when she took the oath as a sworn officer.
Did I mention her killer was a white middle aged male with anger management issues? I don't want to make him the focus of this story, but it's important to know some details. Like the fact that he was convicted of a brutal assault of a co-worker last year, and had to give up possession of an AR-15. Like the fact that he illegally possessed two semi-automatic handguns, which were used on Thursday evening. Like the fact that after the murder, he stood outside his rental, undetected for a couple of hours, across the street from the scene, watching all the emergency responders.
I don't think he targeted Natalie. I think he was ready to shoot any law enforcement officer, and got that opportunity when the collision occurred. And, by terrible coincidence, Natalie showed up. But no one else in the Department deserved this, either.
Natalie, I was fortunate and proud to know you. We will miss you.