Another active shooter event in the north county yesterday. San Luis Obispo county sheriff Ian Parkinson tells us it was the third active shooter event in the county in the past four months.
The shooter was a convicted felon with an extensive history of multiple weapon charges. He was allegedly a member of a white supremacist gang. He was under surveillance. His identity will be released later this morning after his next of kin are notified.
Yesterday morning, Bill Grant was at his home near the Templeton cemetery off Theater drive when he heard gunfire. He said it sounded like someone knocking on his door, but when he looked out, he saw a man shooting a weapon near the Templeton cemetery. At a news conference yesterday afternoon at the north county substation, sheriff Ian Parkinson described the event leading up to the fatal shoot-out. He said the shooter ambushed two deputies, then ran through the vineyard back to his black mustang, which was parked on Theater drive. As shoot-out near his car left the suspect dead.
The suspect has not been identified. We know he was a wanted felon under surveillance by the sheriff’s department. That’s why the first deputy stopped to talk with him. The sheriff’s department will identify him after they first notify his next of kin.
The wounded deputy was airlifted to a local hospital by the CHP helicopter. He is reportedly in stable condition. Parkinson says there are no other suspects in this event. This is the third active shooter event in the county in the past four months. Two of those episodes occurred in the north county, just south of Paso Robles. Each of those resulted in injuries to law enforcement personnel. In all three cases, the shooter was killed.
The back up on SB 101 yesterday was related to the shooting. It continued for five hours yesterday. At times, SB traffic backed up from Main street all the way into Paso Robles. The cause was a big rig which jack-knifed near the Templeton cemetery. A police officer trying to slow traffic near the shooting incident caused the big rig to slam on his breaks. The driver swerved off the road to prevent running over the officer. No injuries in the crash, but it backed up traffic for more than five hours yesterday on SB 101.
