Natalie Corona - Davis

Natalie Corona, courtesy: most-used photo on the internet

Natalie Corona was a female Davis Police Department officer, who was shot multiple times in the evening of January 10, 2019, while responding to a traffic accident in downtown Davis. She succumbed to her injuries at UCD Medical Center. She was 22 years old. Although she had only been an officer for less than six months, she had carried her passion to serve in law enforcement since childhood, and had been an inspiration to the Davis PD even before she entered police academy. Davis PD had tried for more than a year to help Natalie become an officer.

Stories about Natalie

Natalie Corona, courtesy: Natalie Corona, Facebook

Natalie was born on July 26 1996 at Woodland Memorial Hospital. Her father was Merced Corona, who was a police officer . She was a tall woman, 6 foot equaling 1.82 meter, and with a rich, full voice, her persona exuding a natural authority.
Natalie 's best friend since grade school recalled that on their first day of school, Natalie confidently walked up to her (who was a shy girl) to make friend with her. Her best friend recounted that Natalie later told her that she wanted to make friend with her because they were both very tall. In school, they were refereed to as the towers. Natalie was a 4.0 student, a basketball and volleyball player, and the homecoming queen of her high school.
Natalie 's three sisters and cousins recalled that, growing up, Natalie ever talked about was cops and to become an officer. She was recalled always saying, "I want to become a police officer just like my dad." After high school, Natalie attended Woodland Community College and earned her associates of science degree in criminal justice. When her cousin enrolled in the police academy, she would keep asking him to learn everything about the academy program.
While she was studying full time there, she earned a job as a Community Service Officer (CSO) at Davis Police Department. Since then, it was obvious to Davis PD that Natalie wanted to be an officer. As the fellow officers recall, even before she was an officer, Natalie exuded energy and confidence of a seasoned officer. Her passion and qualities made many in the department urged DPD Chief Pytel to get Natalie into the police academy.
When the funding for her position with the DPD ran out, Corona took jobs at a fruit stand and as a waitress at Colusa Casino so she could afford to volunteer with the department." Source: The SacBee. As a volunteer, she worked even more hours since it no longer violated labor laws. At one point Chief Pytel told her that DPD is getting her to the academy, she didn't need to work so hard. Natalie would smile but completely ignored the Chief.
One day while Natalie was working at a fruit stand, photographer Rich Lau approached her and asked if he could practice photography with her. Thereafter, Natalie chose a blue dress (which she took two months to prepare) and the Thin Blue Line flag to take some photos, which she posted on her Facebook account as a tribute to the police force.
In January 2018, with the help of additional fund raising effort by the DPD , DPD sponsored Natalie to enroll in the Sacramento Police Academy in class 18BR-1. During academy training, she fractured both of her shins from the training. At one point in the academy, her trainer believed Natalie should quit due to her (injuries? stamina?), but Natalie would not quit and stared at the training officer for two hours. A fellow cadet recalled that during one training when they had to run many laps around the track, Natalie started throwing up so much that she could feed a "country of rabbits". But Natalie just wiped her mouth and kept running like it was nobody's business. Natalie ended up completing the training in July 2018. Her training officers later commented that if they were given 70 cadets with the her grit to overcome all difficulties, all 70 cadets would complete the training.
According to her father, the CHP wanted to get Natalie to join them, but Natalie turned down their offer. Her father recalled Natalie explained that she wanted to join DPD because everyone at DPD were so nice. She couldn't imagine not going there after what they have done.
On Aug 2, 2018, Natalie sworn in as Officer Corona of the Davis Police Department. She requested her father to affix the badge on her uniform. Her badge number was 224. She would later ask her father whether she could now call him Brother Cop.
From the Summer of 2018 she was a Davis police officer in training. One of her training officers recalled that Natalie wouldn't call him by anything but his title, and he hated it. Then the one time she called him by his first name, she did that over the police radio.
Since she became an officer, Natalie had made a few arrests and assisted in investigating armed robbery. According to DPD Officer Briesenick, to care for the Camp fire victims, Natalie spend her salary to buy them Christmas gifts. Natalie's father recalled that Natalie was so enthusiastic about her job and talking about it that they tried to turn off the lights and pretend that they were asleep, only to be woken up by Natalie telling them about her day's work.
Aside from the fact that Natalie had a sweet tooth, liked M&M's but always stayed so skinny, her friend attending UC Davis recounted that she and Natalie planned to be roommates in Davis starting the next school year.
A night or two before January 10, 2019, Natalie and her best friend were chatting and Natalie asked her what her worst fear was. Her best friends said she was afraid to be alone. Natalie gave her a hug, saying that she will never be alone.
A candlelight vigil was held at Central Park on January 12, 2019. Natalie's family, friends, her fellow officers at DPD, as well as her classmates in 18BR-1 at the academy came on stage to share stories about her as Natalie and as Officer Corona to the Davis community.
A memorial service for Officer Corona was held on January 18, 2019 at the UCD ARC. MemorialPamphlet-1.jpg MemorialPamphlet-2.jpg. The main speakers included Officer Corona's immediate supervisor Sgt. Labbe, Chief Pytel, Natalie's sister, and Natalie's father. Sgt. Labbe asserted that although Officer Corona was called a rookie by the media, she carried herself as a seasoned officer and did everything right on that night. She was an angel among humans becoming an angel among angels. Chief Pytel commented that while they may never know why the shooting occurred, Natalie had touched everyone she met and inspired them to be a better person. She received a Purple Heart for taking wounds by hostile gunfire in line of duty, Medal of Distinction, and the Cantrill Citation named after Douglas Cantrill, who was the last DPD officer killed on duty in 1959.
In February 2019 Davis fitness coach Colin Schmitt ran 224 miles (Corona’s badgenumber) in one weekend to raise money and awareness for the Officer Natalie Corona Scholarship Fund. Source: KCRA
Get Fit Davis's Colin Schmitt ran 224 miles for fallen Officer 224 in the weekend of 2/24 (2019) - photo courtesy CO
On June 19, 2019, another, Sacramento, female cop, Tara O’Sullivan, age 26, was shot and killed in the line of duty. She died at UC Davis Medical Center. Calls for disarming the UC Davis Campus Police, especially advocated by Joshusa Clover-(and)kindred visonaries, are not applauded by the Davis and Sacramento Police: “In a statement to The College Fix, UC Davis Police Chief Joseph Farrow contests the sentiment that officers do not need deadly weapons, highlighting the dangers that are inherent to being a police officer.” Source (The College Fix). And watch the dog too in the published bodycam clip.

Sacramento police officer Tara O’Sullivan, 26, was shot and killed while responding to a domestic dispute

About the Shooting on January 10, 2019 Kevin Douglas Limbaugh, Photo: Yolo County

On January 10, 2019, Officer Corona had just started officially doing patrol shifts on her own for a couple weeks. It was an extremely foggy afternoon and evening, which very likely caused the car accidents she responded to as a police officer on duty. This, in an incomprehensible chain of events, led to her death, because her killer, Kevin Limbaugh, was attracted to exactly this scene. At around 6:30pm, three cars collided near 5th and D street near the fire station . Officer Corona and Davis Fire Department were on scene. She was handing a license back to Christian (UCD graduate) when the gunman fired from behind Christian. The bullet struck Corona at her neck. As she fell down, the gunman continued to fire, emptying the entire clip of his semiautomatic handgun, before he "expertly" reloaded to fire at the surrounding, "striking a nearby fire engine, a house, a passing bus, shooting through a backpack worn by a young woman who was saved when the round lodged in a text book, and firing at a firefighter running away who was struck in his boot but uninjured."

Chilling new facts, source: The SacBee

After the gunman's escape, the police found a backpack that he left on scene and traced to his residence just a block away from the scene. The police surrounded his residence while the gunman barricade the door. A gunshot was heard from inside the residence. He was later identified by the police robot to have committed suicide. Contrary to earlier alerts and reports in all news items, it turned out not to be a young man in his twenties, but a 48-year-old convict named Kevin Douglas Limbaugh.

A signed note was found in his bedroom . His motive is still under investigation, but it looks like his circuits were fried:

Screenshot the SacBee about the note of the killer of Natalie Corona

Davis Police Records showed no data of any written complaints of Kevin Limbaugh. DPD believes that the gunman ambushed Officer Corona (Source: SacBee).

March 23, 2019, DavisEnterprise offers details on Kevin Limbaugh's physical and mental shape prior to the moment he ambushed and shot Natalie Corona. He was intoxicated, but still no clear motive has been determined.

Screenshot DavisEnterprise, March 23, 2019

Natalie Corona collage, courtesy: screenshot video the SacBee

Natalie Corona, courtesy: screenshot video the SacBee

🕯️ Candlelight Vigil for Natalie Corona, Central Park, Davis, Saturday January 12, 2019 🕯️

5Th Street and Russell Boulevard (and other spots) were decorated by the Blue Line Wives, all trees wearing blue ribbons/bows:

All trees on 5th Street and Russell Boulevard wearing blue ribbons/bows (photos: CO)

Tweet Davis Police

Natalie Corona decoration on Dwight Pelz Memorial Bicycle Bridge

Blue bows for Natalie Corona even in Winters (all Davis/Winters photos: CO)

Funeral and Funeral procession for Natalie Corona: Friday, January 18, starting at 11AM.

Comments:

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2019-01-11 21:35:39 I had the honor of meeting her exactly two months ago in November 2018. This was a strange case and I will not retell the whole story again, just give you some outlines, but she was actually looking for me (yes, that's right, really me) with regard to a Davis Wiki edit on the Con Artist page. Family of the former con-artist had complained about my restoring (I was not the only one though) old information about this con artist. I ended up meeting her about this at the Davis police station. She was still an officer in training back then and accompanied by a training officer.

Even though we started on "the wrong foot", because I was upset that she called my ex and one more person about me -she couldn't find my phone-number- , I immediately was impressed by her great presence. She was a tall and handsome woman, with a very pleasant deep, alto voice. I could tell she was cut from extremely robust wood and she had this great natural authority. But to me especially her voice was very special.

The evening and the location she passed away, I was very close-by. I went to evening gym and after that, headed to the bakery at the Davis Train station. I looked through their glass door and saw they were practically out of bread, so I didn't even enter the shop. There was this very dense fog this afternoon and evening, and I had to drive very carefully, because vision was extremely poor. I went to the Davis Ace as well to buy some bird food and self-adhesive foil (I know this information seems redundant, but I'll just give it anyway) and after that, I think I returned at about 6.15 PM. At the Davis Train station I made two photos, because the fog looked very mystic to me. Later on this evening, through Twitter, I learned that shortly after I had returned home, officer Natalie Corona had been fatally wounded for at this time still unknown reasons by an equally young man who committed suicide later that evening. I had been so close-by it is quite eerie to me (considering I recently met her, too).

The two photos I made the evening of her passing at the Davis Train Station:

Davis Train Station, dense fog in the afternoon and evening of January 10, 2019, courtesy: Constantia Oomen

Screenshot of my Twitter account

—ConstantiaOomen

2019-01-19 02:01:53 This past night, *in my bad dream/nightmare* - yes, exactly one week after Natalie Corona was killed by him - I succeeded in locking the door in time to shut him (?) out, but then he immediately wanted to kick it in, to kill me after all. I then shouted through the locked door: “I have called the Police” (but I hadn’t, but I was going to, 911). I then startled out of sleep. 😕 —ConstantiaOomen

2019-01-19 03:12:27 Sgt. Labbe said Natalie will not lose in a fight. She is going to take him down and she will do it with a smile. —EdgarWai

2019-01-19 08:36:08 That is a nice thought, Edgar, but this Earth’s truth is that he took her out. He came like a thief in the night. —ConstantiaOomen

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