Police in California are searching for a gunman who attacked Paso Robles police department in the early hours of Wednesday, shooting a sheriff in the head before fleeing and killing a homeless man.
Ian Parkinson, sheriff of Paso Robles, described the incident as an ‘unprovoked attack on law enforcement’ by a suspect ‘laying in ambush’ at the police department.
He said it was ‘the act of a coward.’
The shooting comes at a time of heightened tension between police departments across the country and the communities they serve, following the May 25 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis by police and the subsequent protests against police brutality.
Downtown Paso Robles was on lockdown on Wednesday morning as they searched for the suspect, described as being in his 20s or 30s, approximately 5’8′ and 150-160 pounds with dark curly hair and a beard.
Police released photos of the suspect in pre-dawn shooting at Paso Robles police department
The suspected gunman was captured on camera at two hotels in the city
He was seen at two Paso Robles hotels – the Piccolo hotel and Street Side Ale House – leading to suggestions that he could have been staying there.
Sheriff’s spokesman Tony Cipolla declined to say whether the suspect stayed at the hotel.
The man opened fire at the police department at 3:09am on Wednesday.
Ty Lewis, Paso Robles police chief, said a dispatcher monitoring the department’s security cameras saw a suspicious person walking around the building and then start shooting.
Paso Robles police then called for help from other agencies as they responded to the shooter outside.
‘The suspect began firing at police cars as they entered the downtown area, where the police building is located,’ said Parkinson.
‘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.’
The gunman shot a sheriff in the head and killed a homeless man before fleeing, police said
He said two deputies who responded to the call were searching the area in which the shooter was last seen when they came under fire, at 4:19am.
One of the deputies was shot in the head, and was taken from the scene by the Paso Robles fire department.
The officer, a two year veteran of the department, was later airlifted to hospital in another county, and remains in a serious but stable condition.
Several hours later, at 7am, the body of a homeless man who had been camping in the area was found on the train tracks.
The 58-year-old had been shot in the back of the head by who police believe was the same gunman.
A shelter-in-place order was instigated for the city, as the manhunt continued.
The order was lifted at 3pm, but Chief Lewis asked people to continue to avoid the downtown area as officers were still processing at least five different locations that were considered part of the crime scene.
Paso Robles is an unlikely spot for such violence.
Paso Robles police department, where the gunman began his rampage early on Wednesday
Sheriffs are seen searching for the gunman, who has not been identified by investigators
The bustling community 175 miles northwest of Los Angeles is a tourist destination and centerpiece of the wine industry on California’s Central Coast.
The violence came just five days after another unlikely location, the community of Ben Lomond in Santa Cruz County farther north on the California coast, was the scene of an ambush on police.
Santa Cruz sheriff’s Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller, 38, was killed and another deputy injured Saturday in an attack allegedly carried out by an Air Force sergeant armed with homemade bombs, an AR-15 rifle and other weapons.
Santa Cruz County Sheriff Jim Hart said the suspect, Steven Carrillo, was intent on killing officers.
The FBI is investigating whether Carrillo, 32, has links to the killing of a federal security officer who was shot outside the U.S. courthouse in Oakland during a protest against police brutality on May 29.
The FBI also is assisting the San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles departments with their investigation.