Family, colleagues mourn slain animal control officer

Roy Marcum drove to First Street late Wednesday morning to do what what he did every day of his 14-year career: He went to care for animals in need.

It would be his last call. Marcum, a 45-year-old animal control officer, died just before noon after an assailant, hiding behind the front door of a foreclosed home in Galt, blasted him in the chest with a shotgun.

On Thursday, Marcum's loved ones at home and in the animal care community were still reeling from the shock of his death.

"He loved his family, he loved animals, he loved his country," said close family friend Shelley Pai, a former animal control officer. "He believed in what he did. He went to work faithfully every day."

Earlier Thursday, police ended a nearly 17-hour standoff with Marcum's alleged shooter, Joseph Francis Corey, by taking him into custody at 5 a.m. in the garage of the First Street home. The arrest brought to a close a saga that involved at least five law enforcement agencies, three SWAT teams and a whole neighborhood of residents kept from their homes.

It did not, however, offer insight into the alleged shooter's motivations. What is known is that Corey, 65, apparently in financial distress, lost his home to foreclosure last year and was evicted from the residence Tuesday.

He was seen gathering up belongings outside the home after a locksmith changed the locks.

An official with the bank called animal control after Corey said he did not have a place to take his animals. So Marcum went Wednesday morning to pick them up.

Details about what happened on that front porch were not clear Thursday.

Galt police officials said Marcum, a locksmith and the locksmith's friend shared a brief verbal exchange with the suspect through the closed front door. However, David Dickinson, director of Sacramento County's animal control, said the front door was slightly ajar when they approached. He said they tried to push the door open, but found it barricaded.

Either way, officials agree that the shooter fired through the door.

The locksmith and his friend suffered minor injuries, but Marcum was mortally wounded. Paramedics pronounced him dead at a church around the corner, where he had been pulled by Galt police officers.

Surrounding residents were evacuated before police began laborious efforts to coax out the shooter, who remained inside. Pleas via megaphone and telephone were unsuccessful. Even multiple rounds of tear gas – fired into the house starting about 10:30 p.m. – did not force him out.

Officials described Corey as a hoarder, and said the condition of his home complicated their tactical efforts.

Eventually, SWAT team members from Elk Grove and Galt snuck into the garage and waited for an opportunity. When Corey came downstairs to check on a dog, they fired a Taser, rushed him and took him into custody.

Corey remained Thursday evening at a local hospital, where he was being evaluated for incarceration. He was expected to be booked into jail later on suspicion of murder, said Sacramento County Sheriff's Sgt. Jason Ramos.

Efforts to reach Corey's family were unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, Marcum's wife, Tina, picked up her husband's personal belongings and waited for his body to be released from the Sacramento County Coroner's Office. Family members at the couple's Elk Grove home said she was not ready for an interview.

Other loved ones recalled a warm, jovial man with an infectious smile and a gift for connecting with people and animals alike.

"Any conversation that you had with Roy started with laughter or ended with laughter," said Dickinson, the animal control director. "It's just who he was."