The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office has released additional details about the January 13 incident in which a man was fatally shot by law enforcement following a several-hour standoff in Santa Maria.
According to a statement released by the Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday, the allegedly armed man shot by deputies was 32-year-old Santa Maria resident Wesley Gerald Klotthor. The deputies involved in the shooting are detectives Nicholas Adomaitis and Michael Savey, the Sheriff’s Office stated.
Deputies responded to a family dispute Saturday evening near the 800 block of Blake Street in Santa Maria, where they were informed that the male suspect since identified as Klotthor was “brandishing a firearm,” according to an earlier statement released by the Sheriff’s Office following the incident. Klotthor’s family members were able to escape the house and call for help, whereupon deputies arrived and surrounded the home and evacuated neighboring residents. Sheriff’s Office negotiators attempted for several hours to “de-escalate and stabilize the situation,” but Klotthor was ultimately shot and killed following a confrontation with deputies in the backyard of the residence at around 9:35 p.m.
In accordance with Sheriff’s Office policy, the two deputies have been placed on paid administrative leave, and the incident remains under active investigation. No further details of the shooting are available at this time.