Sex offender guns down 2 California police officers

Authorities in California on Tuesday said that two Santa Cruz police officers had been shot and killed while investigating a possible sexual assault.

Santa Cruz police Chief Kevin Vogel told reporters that Sgt. Loren Butch Baker and Detective Elizabeth Butler were killed by Jeremy Goulet, a 35-year-old barista.

Goulet had been arrested last week for allegedly making inappropriate sexual advances on a co-worker. Baker and Butler were at his home on Tuesday to follow up on the investigation when the shooting occurred.

Goulet was shot and killed by police officers responding to the scene about 30 minutes later.

Baker, who had two children, was a 28-year veteran of Santa Cruz police department. Butler also left behind two children and had been with the Santa Cruz police force for 10 years.

Butler and Baker were the first Santa Cruz officers to ever be killed in the line of duty, according to the Contra Costa Times.

"This is the darkest day in the history of the Santa Cruz Police Department," Vogel explained at a Tuesday night press conference.

Watch this video from KCBS, broadcast Feb. 26, 2013.