Tulare County Sheriff's Office, California
End of Watch: Monday, December 17, 2007
Age: 38
Tour of Duty: 10 years
Badge Number: 364
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: December 17, 2007
Weapon Used: Gun; Unknown type
Suspect Info: Sentenced to life
Detective Kent Haws was shot and killed while investigating suspicious activity in the area of Avenue 344 and Road 156 at approximately 1340 hours.
Detective Haws was driving south on Road 156, just north of Road 344, when he saw a car parked next to an orange grove on the east side of the road. Detective Haws made a U-turn and pulled behind the car to investigate. As he talked to the car’s occupants he saw a man in the orchard. Sending the occupants of the car on their way, he told sheriff’s dispatch he was checking a man in the orchard. Once out of the grove, the man pulled a semi-automatic firearm and fired an unknown number of shots, striking Detective Haws.
Several passersby, seeing the officer on the ground used cell phones and stopped at nearby homes to call for help. One passerby, a nurse, stopped and began to give Detective Haws first aid until EMS arrived. Detective Haws was taken by ambulance, escorted by California Highway Patrol vehicles, to Kaweah Delta Hospital in Visalia, where he died at 3:20 pm.
A suspect was taken into custody later in the afternoon, still in possession of the murder weapon when he was apprehended. The suspect was charged and was finally found guilty of murder on August 28, 2012, and subsequently sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.
Detective Haws had served with the Tulare County Sheriff's Office for 10 years. He is survived by his wife, three young children, mother, brother, sister, and stepfather.