California sheriff's deputy allegedly killed married couple inside their home, police say

DUBLIN, Calif. - A California sheriff's deputy has surrendered after briefly being on the run following the shooting of a husband and wife inside their Northern California home early Wednesday, investigators said.

Law enforcement officials said the shooter was identified by a witness as 24-year-old Devin Williams Jr., a deputy with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office. Williams called authorities in the hours after the shooting and said he wanted to turn himself in, officials said. Police stayed on the phone with him until he was taken into custody by the California Highway Patrol near Coalinga in the Central Valley.

Around 12:45 a.m. Wednesday, the two victims, a 52-year-old man and a 48-year-old woman, were found with gunshot wounds in a home on the 3100 block of Colebrook Lane in Dublin, a city in the East Bay about 35 miles from downtown San Francisco, sheriff's spokesman Lt. Ray Kelly said at a news conference. The man and woman were pronounced dead at the scene. Their identities have not been released pending family notification.

The couple, who are parents of a young child, died at the scene. The child was a key eyewitness to the deaths, Kelly said.

Following the double shooting, Williams allegedly fled the scene, prompting an active manhunt for the deputy. He may have been trying to flee to Southern California, an Alameda Sheriff's spokesperson told the Los Angeles Times.

A source close to the investigation told FOX 11's sister station KTVU that investigators are looking into allegations that Williams Jr. was having an affair with the woman involved. However, officials at the press conference did not comment on a possible motive for the slayings.

Kelly said a male relative of the couple who was visiting was unhurt and was talking to detectives about what occurred.

The sheriff’s office said Williams was off-duty at the time of the shooting.

Kelly said Williams has been with the sheriff’s office for a year and was still on probation. He was assigned to the agency’s court services division in the city of Oakland.

Williams, who is from Stockton, briefly worked with the Stockton Police Department, where he completed their police academy but was ultimately let go after he failed their field training program, Kelly said.

KTVU and the Associated Press contributed to this report.