Details Released On Officer-Involved Shooting

The Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office has released more information on the officer-involved shooting Sunday night that left a trespassing suspect in critical condition after he was shot multiple times by a pursuing deputy.

According to Sheriff’s spokesperson Kelly Hoover, 9-1-1 dispatchers received a call at around 7:45 p.m. from a concerned neighbor who reported a possible trespasser in a home on the 3200 block of Beach Club Road near Carpinteria. Three deputies responded and found a white male in his twenties inside the house. He was interviewed, handcuffed, and arrested — deputies found a loaded handgun in his backpack — and then loaded into the back seat of a patrol car.

As the deputies waited for a tow-truck to come remove the suspect’s car, he was able to knock out the patrol car’s plexiglas partition and crawl into its front seat. He started to drive away, said Hoover, and the deputies gave chase on foot. “[D]uring the resulting confrontation, a Sheriff’s Deputy fired several shots, some of which struck the suspect,” Hoover said in a prepared statement. He was transported to the hospital and remains in critical condition.

“Due to his medical condition, the suspect, who has an extensive criminal history, has not been able to be interviewed by Sheriff’s Detectives,” Hoover continued in the statement. “The Sheriff’s Forensics Bureau has confirmed his identity through fingerprints. Once his family has been notified of the incident, the suspect’s name will be released.”

After an investigation by the Sheriff’s Office, the case will be turned over to the District Attorney’s Office for further review. The deputy involved in the shooting has been placed on administrative leave, which is routine in such cases, said Hoover.