Deputy Sheriff James B. Evans, 39, was killed on May 9, 1980, after a bank robbery and ensuing pursuit that began at the Security Pacific Bank in Norco, California. The robbers, described as heavily armed and wearing military fatigues, engaged officers and fled across Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The chase carried into the remote Lytle Creek area; as Evans rounded a curve near Stockton Flat Campground in the San Bernardino National Forest, the suspects—who had stopped their vehicle—ambushed him and opened fire with high-powered rifles, including M-16s, fatally wounding him. The suspects fled on foot and a large manhunt followed into the next day.

In the course of the incident one suspect was killed at the bank and another was killed while being apprehended; three others were captured and later convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Evans had joined the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1975 after serving as a Reserve Officer with the Colton Police Department, was a Vietnam War veteran, and was working toward a Master’s Degree in Business Administration. He left behind his wife Mary, six children, his parents, two brothers, and a sister.

Are there memories from Lytle Creek or Norco in 1980 that could shed more light on the ambush or the immediate aftermath?