An animal control officer was fatally shot Wednesday when he went to retrieve pets from a Sacramento County home where the resident had been evicted a day earlier, authorities said.

Police surrounded the two-story house in Galt, about 20 miles south of Sacramento, a little after noon when the shooting suspect barricaded himself inside, sheriff's Sgt. Jason Ramos said. Negotiators had two brief telephone conversations with the suspect in the evening but fore he broke off contact late at night, Ramos said.

"It's kind of a standoff, a waiting game," Ramos said.

"We have certain steps we'll take (if the standoff continues) but of course I can't reveal those steps," he said.

The name of the suspect has not been released.

Police have evacuated several nearby homes where the residents would be considered to be facing what Ramos termed a "credible threat" should gunfire break out.

A nearby elementary school had also been evacuated earlier in the day.

"We've got the place surrounded and we're evacuating nearby residents who are potentially at risk because they're in the line of fire," Ramos told The Associated Press earlier Wednesday.

About 20 to 30 officers were maintaining a perimeter around the home, while additional officers, including Galt police and officers called in from nearby Elk Grove and Sacramento were standing by to assist.

The suspect is believed to be the man who was evicted Tuesday, Ramos said. The locks had been changed, and it was unclear how the person got into the house.

The unarmed animal control officer and a bank employee had gone to the home around noon to pick up several dogs and cats. The evicted resident had complained that he had nowhere to take his animals, Ramos said.

When the pair knocked, a person inside fired a shotgun through the door, hitting the officer's torso, Ramos said. The officer's identity has not been released.

The bank employee flagged down a police volunteer, who helped pull the officer to safety, but paramedics were unable to revive him, Ramos said. The bank official suffered minor injuries but was not hit by gunfire.

The name of the officer has not been released, but Sacramento County Animal Control director David Dickinson told Sacramento's KCRA-TV that he was a 14-year veteran with the department.