A former CHP officer from Lodi and his wife are dead and a Stockton man is critically injured after what Stockton police are calling a murder-suicide on Thursday.
According to reports, Stockton Police Department officers responded to a shooting just before 8 a.m. on the 800 block of West Eight Mile Road.
Officers said that two men were shot, one of whom was a 35-year-old man. A 54-year-old man was taken to the hospital in critical condition, police said.
A gun was recovered at the scene, and police said the shooting appeared to be a murder-suicide.
About the same time as the Stockton shooting, police in Orange County responded to a welfare check at a Garden Grove home just south of Anaheim.
The Garden Grove Police Department said that dispatch operators received a call from someone stating police and an ambulance were needed.
As officers arrived on the scene, police received another call from a young girl stating her mother needed help.
Officers entered the residence and located a deceased woman, later identified as 37-year-old Crystal Gonzalez of Lodi. Two children were inside the residence and were unaware of what had taken place, police said.
According to the Garden Grove department, investigators learned that the victim’s husband and children’s father, later identified as 35-year-old Miguel Lopez of Lodi, was not at the residence, and there were no signs of forced entry.
Investigators began searching for Lopez, and family members eventually reported that his vehicle had been located in Stockton. After contacting Stockton Police Department, officers learned that Lopez had been involved in a shooting that morning, the Garden Grove Police Department reported.
An investigation is ongoing.
Miguel Lopez was working out of the CHP’s Stockton office before leaving the force. The CHP released a statement on Friday that read: “The alleged conduct of this former employee does not reflect the professionalism of the thousands of CHP members who pledge to provide the highest level of safety, service, and security to the people of California. The CHP extends its thoughts and prayers to the families and friends of those involved in this terrible tragedy.”
This article was updated at 4:35 p.m. Friday, July 18, 2025.