Updated April 9, 2026, 2:58 p.m. PT
A visit from Tulare County Sheriff’s deputies to serve an evictions notice in Portersville turned deadly, claiming the life of deputy who was shot and killed when someone opened fire.
The incident all started late morning on Thursday, April 9 in the area of Newcomb Street and Grand Avenue.
The shooting is the second to happen since February in the small community about 45 minutes southeast of Visalia.
Authorities confirmed the deputy died at 11:57 a.m.
Just hours after the shooting began, Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux called the killing “senseless” at a news conference. He identified a suspect and said the man had used a high-powered rifle. He said SWAT teams went door to door to ask people to remain sheltered in place as law enforcement combed the area in search of the suspect who “evidently (was) hopping from house to house.”
The fallen deputy, a detective, leaves behind a wife who is four months pregnant, Boudreaux said. He said he met with the deputy’s wife and mother at Sierra View Medical Center and that “there is no consoling this family at this point.”
Officers were forming an honorable escort for the fallen officer from the hospital to the coroner’s office.
Boudreaux identified the shooting suspect as David Peramus, born in 1966, and said only one shooter was involved.
“We’re saddened by the loss of our officer,” the sheriff said and added the deputy’s name is not yet being released.
The sheriff’s office urged residents to remain cautious while the investigation continues.
The Porterville Unified School District announced to parents it had reduced its lockdown “secure” at its Westfield, Sequoia, and Monache campuses.
Original story
Porterville police responded to a shooting Thursday morning that started when someone opened fire on Tulare County Sheriff’s Office deputies serving an eviction notice in the area of Newcomb Street and Grand Avenue.
The shooting prompted law enforcement to block off areas in that neighborhood and ask people to avoid the 1700 block of West Brian Avenue, authorities said.
The sheriff’s office said, “Right now, Deputies are heading to the scene, where the suspect is outstanding and shots are still being fired.”Witnesses told Fox 26 News that they saw a man with a rifle and dressed in camouflage, and told the station shots were still being fired at law enforcement.
Police could be heard in radio scanner traffic say they were using a drone to search for the suspect.
In a Facebook post on its page just after 11 a.m., police asked people to avoid the West Brian Avenue block “due to an ongoing investigation. We appreciate your patience and cooperation.”
The Porterville Unified School District placed Westfield, Sequoia, and Monache schools on lockdown as a precaution, local media reported.
Authorities requested SWAT assistance and the deployment of a BearCat armored vehicle as officers continued efforts to contain the situation, scanner traffic indicates.
Porterville is 45 minutes southeast of Visalia, just west of Sequoia National Park.
At least five law enforcement agencies sent officers to the scene to assist the sheriff’s office. Included are Porterville, Visalia, Delano and Tulare police departments and the California Highway Patrol and its helicopter.
This is second law enforcement shooting reported out of Porterville since February. In that other incident, a deputy with the Tulare County Sheriff’s team that conducts outreach and enforcement related to unhoused people fatally shot a man on Feb. 24. The team had encountered the man on a private property the day before on the northeast side of the Tule River near the Plano Bridge but he ran off when they tried to talk to him.
On the day of the shooting, the team returned to try to talk to him. During a confrontation in which the man swung a stick and struck the deputy, the deputy fired their weapon. The man died at the scene.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
