Hayward students, community fondly remember fallen officer

HAYWARD, Calif. (KGO) -- Investigators are pursuing a new lead in the death of a veteran Bay Area police sergeant who was shot and killed during a traffic stop. Hayward police announced late Thursday that they are now looking for a vehicle caught by a surveillance camera that may be related to the shooting death of Sgt. Scott Lunger. Police say those people in the car are not suspects, but might have information that could help investigators.

Police say anyone who recognizes the vehicle can call the Hayward police investigations division anonymously at (510) 293-7034.

Capt. Mark Koller said the 15-year veteran of the department was shot near Myrtle and Lion streets in Hayward at about 3:15 a.m. Wednesday after he and another officer stopped a truck that was being driven erratically.

According to Koller, Lunger was shot without warning as he approached the driver's side of the vehicle. He was pronounced dead at Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley a short time later.

The other officer returned fire at the suspect, 21-year-old Mark Anthony Estrada, but police say the Oakland resident managed to flee the scene. Estrada abandoned his truck at 98th and Edes avenues in East Oakland and eventually wound up at Highland Hospital in Oakland, with non-life threatening injuries.

Thursday evening Estrada was released from the hospital and was booked into Santa Rita Jail in Dublin on one count of homicide.

ABC7 News spoke with Lunger's aunt. She didn't want to go on camera but says she wants her nephew to be remembered as one a Hayward's finest, because he was. People who barely knew him feel the same way as the memorial of flowers and candles grow outside the Hayward Police Department.

Alana Haskins knew Lunger from Hayward High School. She told ABC7 News, "He knew my name, but we only had a couple of conversations. You know, we'd joke around a little bit."

Haskins says he was the most respected officer on campus.

"I think it's because of his presence. He just had this presence and this aura and this niceness about him that just made everybody feel uplifted and happy," she said.

"It's a hard job for these guys and I respect them a lot. It's a sad thing that happened," Hayward resident Manuel Feliciano said.

The 48-year-old's casket was transported in a massive police procession from the Alameda County Coroner's Office in Oakland to the Chapel of the Chimes Mortuary in Hayward where funeral arrangements are now being made.

PHOTOS: Hayward police sergeant shot, killed

Local law enforcement and community members like Buenrostro lined the route on short notice. The moving display of respect and honor spanned from Oakland to Hayward.

Tentative arrangements have now been made to lay the fallen sergeant to rest next week. A public funeral service has been scheduled for Thursday, July 30 at 10 a.m. at Neighborhood Church on John Drive in Castro Valley.

"His murder is a reminder that the work we call our police officers to do puts their lives in jeopardy every day, every stop," said Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif. The East Bay congressman paid tribute to Lunger on the House floor in Washington on Thursday.

Vice President Joe Biden also spoke about the fallen sergeant during a visit to the Bay Area. "My heart goes out to the Lunger family," he said. "And uh, no one fully appreciates the risk you take until something like this happens."

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