Elinor Aspegren, USA TODAY
Published 1:12 a.m. ET June 11, 2020
CLOSE
Tensions between police and protesters have come to a boiling point in some places after the death of George Floyd.
USA TODAY
A California deputy is in serious but stable condition after being shot while responding to a call for shots fired at the Paso Robles Police Department on Wednesday morning.
The suspect began shooting at the police station around 3:45 a.m. and killed a homeless man before eluding an intense manhunt in downtown Paso Robles, a mecca for wine enthusiasts located about 200 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
A police dispatcher called for help after monitoring security cameras, and while responding, the deputy was shot in the head. He was airlifted to a trauma center, where he underwent surgery, ABC News reported.
“We feel that this was an ambush, that he planned it, that he intended for officers to come out of the police department and to assault them,” San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson said.
Santa Cruz: Air Force sergeant arrested on suspicion of killing California deputy
The armed suspect is described as a man in his 20s or 30s, the sheriff’s office tweeted. Authorities also released a photo of the suspect on social media platforms.
The shooting comes on the heels of the killings of a Santa Cruz deputy last week and a federal police officer in Oakland on May 29.
There’s no clear link between Wednesday’s shooting and the other two incidents, Parkinson said, but he didn’t rule out a connection.
Of the injured deputy, Parkinson said, “He’s not out of the woods, as the doctors have explained to me.”
Contributing: The Associated Press
Autoplay
Show Thumbnails
Show Captions
Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/06/10/california-deputy-shot-paso-robles-police/5340062002/
