Goleta Pellet Gun Shooter Deemed Mentally Competent

Charles Quinn, accused of firing a pellet gun at deputies and others in Goleta in January, was certified mentally competent to stand trial by state hospital officials.

Quinn was receiving treatment at Patton State Hospital and is scheduled to be back in court Thursday before Judge Dean Dandona, who will have to determine if criminal proceedings can be reinstated. The defense could ask for a trial to determine Quinn’s competency, in which it would have the burden of proof to show Quinn is incompetent to stand trial.

To be considered competent, Quinn must be able to understand the charges against him, and he has to be able to cooperate with his attorney, among other things.

Quinn allegedly approached a group of people in the Camino Real Marketplace in Goleta and asked for some change. They didn’t give him any, and witnesses say he pulled out a pellet gun and shot at them. He took off running, and Sheriff’s deputies caught up with him. He fired upon them, authorities said, and they returned fire with their handguns, hitting him multiple times.

The man, a convicted sex offender, is facing six felony charges — three counts of assault on a police officer, one count of second degree robbery, one of assault with the personal use of a deadly weapon, and resisting an executive officer — and one misdemeanor count of brandishing a replica gun.