Witness recounts trying to help Riverside County deputy moments after fatal shooting

JURUPA VALLEY, Calif. (KABC) -- A woman is recalling the moment she tried helping a Riverside County sheriff's deputy who was gunned down in the street by a man with a violent criminal history.

The witness, who did not want to be identified, says the tragedy unfolded in front of her home Thursday afternoon. Surveillance video captured the aftermath of the shooting.

Deputy Isaiah Cordero, 32, was shot and killed in the line of duty during a traffic stop. He had pulled over a pickup truck just before 2 p.m. in Jurupa Valley. As he approached the vehicle, the driver pulled a gun and shot him, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said at a news conference.

"Somebody shouted there was a police officer down, and my daughter came out. She was trying to call 911 two or three times and nobody answered," the witness told Eyewitness News. "So I ran back to get my phone and call myself two times as well."

RELATED: Slain Deputy Isaiah Cordero mourned by community, colleagues. 'This could have been prevented'

Riverside County Sheriff is angry that the man who fatally shot a deputy was out on bail after a three-strikes conviction.

After six attempts, the family was finally able to reach an emergency operator. They then sprang into action.

"He did have a pulse on his left arm. I could feel a pulse," she said. "My daughter was following the 911 dispatcher's instructions, and we were calling his name and ... he wouldn't answer. Three minutes after the police got here."

Bianco said at Thursday's news conference that residents helped notify the department of the shooting.

Meanwhile, the community is mourning the deputy's death. A sea of flowers, candles and flags were placed outside the Jurupa Valley Sheriff's Station Friday night.

The suspect, William Shae McKay, 44, of San Bernardino County, had a long and violent criminal history stretching back to before 2000 that included kidnapping, robbery and multiple arrests for assault with a deadly weapon, including a 2021 police chase in which a California Highway Patrol dog was stabbed, allegedly by an accomplice of McKay, the sheriff said.

The Riverside Sheriffs' Association has established a fund to help Cordero's family, available at this link.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.