Charles Quinn, hospitalized after being shot by Sheriff’s deputies after he fired a high-powered pellet gun at them on January 15 in Goleta, is out of the Intensive Care Unit and in good condition, according to a Cottage Hospital spokesperson. The next stop for him will be Santa Barbara County Jail, and then a court appearance for an arraignment hearing, where he will answer to felony charges including 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. After firing his pellet gun at a group of young men sitting in Camino Real Marketplace, hitting two, Quinn shot nine or 10 times at three deputies who had responded to the call, injuring two of them. The officers were able to return fire, wounding Quinn. Drew Sugars, a spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Department, would not reveal how many times the deputies fired their weapons, citing two ongoing investigations — the criminal investigation and the administrative investigation launched anytime a deputy fires his or her weapon.
Quinn, a registered sex offender in Florida, has a checkered criminal past, including run-ins with authorities in Santa Monica, Ventura, Florida, and some Northern California cities. He had never previously been arrested in Santa Barbara County.