A young California police officer was shot to death, in an "ambush" carried out by a bicycle-riding gunman who took his own life hours later, authorities said Friday.

Natalie Corona, 22, had only been on the job for a few weeks in Davis, California, when she was called to a three-car crash at 6:45 p.m PT (9:45 p.m. ET) on Thursday, police said.

Corona was the first officer to arrive at the scene when she was shot, officials said. She was rushed to UC Davis Medical Center in nearby Sacramento, where she died.

Police later surrounded a house one block away from the shooting scene where they found the suspect, who had killed himself, authorities said.

The shooter was not involved in the fender-bender, motorist Christian Pascual, 25, told the Sacramento Bee on Friday.

Pascual said he was hit by one car, sending his 1996 Infiniti out of control and into another vehicle in downtown Davis.

The drivers were exchanging information with Corona when a bystander came up behind his right shoulder and opened fire, according to Pascual.

“I gave her my license and she was just about to give it to me,” Pascual said. “That’s when I heard the shots."

The bystander was firing at such close range, Pascual said, he was suffering from some hearing loss on Friday.

“When I looked up and I saw the officer on the ground he was already walking due west ... like just shooting at what looked like random people to me,” Pascual said.

The shooter had rolled up to the scene on a on bicycle, shot Corona in the neck but then dropped his backpack, eventually leading police to his home a short distance away, officials said.

Another witness, Shaun Kingston, told The Associated Press that the gunman appeared calm as he opened fire on other first responders coming to the scene.

"I just watched him basically shoot at the firetruck, dump a clip and put another one in, then just start walking down (the) street like it wasn't nothing," Kingston said.

Once the gunman got home, he chatted with his roommate without "showing any sign he was involved in the incident," Davis Police Chief Darren Pytel said Friday night.

During the standoff with police, the suspect walked outside with a bulletproof vest, went back in, barricaded the door with a couch and then fatally shot himself, according to Pytel.

The gunman's name was not released Friday night.

Corona is the second, 22-year-old female police officer killed this week.

Officer Chateri Payne was shot to death at a home in Shreveport, Louisiana, on Wednesday, police said. Her killer was not immediately captured.

READ MORE HERE: http://newsblenda.com/post/others/beautiful-female-rookie-police-officer-in-northern-california-shot-and-killed.html

Such a beautiful policewoman.
Ah! Death be not proud.
Gun attacks in the U.S these days are going out of hand now

Wow, sad moment