MERCED, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Monday marks 20 years since the death of Merced Police Officer Stephan Gene Gray. Officer Gray was killed in the line of duty in Merced on April 15, 2004.
In a post on social media, the Merced Police Department wrote that Officer Gray is remembered every April 15 – and that Officer Gray’s family will always be a part of the Merced Police Department family.
According to Merced County, Officer Stephan Gene Gray was working in an undercover detail and stopped a vehicle in his unmarked car in the 1900 block of Gen Avenue in Merced shortly after 7 p.m. on April 15, 2004. Officer Gray contacted the man in the vehicle and when he attempted to search him, the man ran from the scene. Officer Gray pursued and the suspect responded by turning and firing an unknown weapon. Officer Gray was struck twice and he passed away from his injuries.
The suspect was arrested outside Chowchilla a little over two weeks after the deadly shooting of Officer Gray. The suspect was convicted and sentenced to death. State records show that the suspect remains incarcerated inside San Quentin State Prison.
According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, Officer Gray was not the first person in his family to be killed while serving in law enforcement. His great-great-grandfather, City Marshall W. R. Shaver, was shot and killed in Oklahoma on August 14, 1905, while he was serving with the Boley Police Department.
In memory of Officer Stephan Gene Gray, a section of Highway 99 between Childs Avenue and 16th Street in Merced was named the “Officer Stephan Gene Gray Highway.”