Sheriff’s Office releases new details about lead-up to Paso Robles shooting
Press conference
Live reports
What happened
PASO ROBLES, Calif. (KION)
UPDATE 6/11/2020 8 p.m. The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office said it will continue to investigate after four officers were shot, one person was killed and the shooting suspect was killed.
After a shooting at the Paso Robles Police Department and a homicide at the Amtrak station, Sheriff Ian Parkinson said a shooting was reported Wednesday night near the 200 block of Spring Street. Police said they saw the suspect, 26-year-old Mason James Lira, at the scene. He ran into an apartment complex nearby, but escaped. Police say they do not know what he was shooting at or what his intention was.
Shortly after that, Lira was seen at a Chevron gas station, where police said he shot at them before disappearing. They do not know why he was at the gas station yet.
"Lira, the suspect, was spotted and fired several shots at officers that responded and once again retreated back into the riverbed," said Sheriff Ian Parkinson, of the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office.
He retreated to a riverbed where law enforcement agencies surrounded a large area to contain him. There was a plan in place to start a systematic search near the fairgrounds.
During the search, Lira allegedly began firing and hit a Sergeant with the Arroyo Grande Police Department in the calf. The officer was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
"We knew we had to search a very large area with a very dangerous person that was already wanted for suspicion of murder of a resident," said Sheriff Parkinson.
"We heard on the scanner that they might have found him and that's when our parking lot got flooded with all the police officers and everybody started gearing up and their tactical teams started coming in," said Louis Coppo, a nearby witness.
After the officer was shot, more deputies and officers were brought in to contain a smaller area. They said Lira came out of hiding and crawled up an embankment. He made it to the top of a hill and began running toward a vineyard. At that point, two more members of law enforcement were shot. A CHP officer took a bullet to their protective vest, and a Kings County deputy was shot above the knee when he went to help the CHP officer.
The Sheriff's Office said Lira was found with two handguns that they believe may have been stolen in a commercial burglary in San Luis Obispo a few days before Wednesday's shooting.
Around the time of the shooting at the Paso Robles Police Department Wednesday, police heard about a homicide near the Amtrak station. Police said the victim was a 59-year-old white man who was likely a transient. Lira is the primary suspect in the homicide, and police said they are not 100% sure about the timeline, but believe the man was killed early on and that it may be one of the first things Lira did. Lira is considered the primary suspect because the guns used in the homicide and the police station shooting appear to be linked.
The Sheriff's Office said there is no indication that Wednesday's shooting is connected to a shooting in Ben Lomond Saturday that killed Sgt. Damon Gutzwiler in Santa Cruz County or the death of a federal officer in Oakland, but when law enforcement released a picture of the suspect in Wednesday's shooting, law enforcement in Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties helped to identify Lira because of his past run-ins with agencies in the counties.
Sheriff Parkinson said he believes Wednesday's shooting was a planned ambush on the police station because it lasted more than an hour and a half and instead of trying to get away, Lira allegedly moved around and continued to shoot from different places.
In the days leading up to the shooting, Parkinson believes Lira was living in a storm drain near the movie theater downtown. The entrance is in a wall near a courtyard behind shrubs. Repair work is being done in the area, and it was called in as a possible transient campsite. Inside, investigators found evidence that apparently links Lira to the commercial burglary. It is believed that he was living there for about a week based on when he was released from custody in Monterey County on June 3 after facing a criminal threats charge. The entrance was difficult to see and there was another locked steel grate on the opposite end, so when investigators were searching the downtown area Wednesday, they looked in the grate and saw nothing, not knowing there was another entrance.
Parkinson stressed that everyone wanted a peaceful ending and that this is not the outcome they wanted. He said the law enforcement officers who were injured are expected to recover from their injuries, but it remains a traumatic experience for all of those involved.
He also said that law enforcement had no opportunity to engage with Lira.
The investigation is continuing while they look for a motive and examine evidence.
UPDATE 6/11/2020 6:30 p.m. The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office said 26-year-old Mason James Lira has died after being shot by law enforcement officers.
According to the Sheriff's Office, the department got a report of an officer shot near Ramada Drive and Volpi Ysabel Road at around 2:10 p.m. Officers were in that area as part of a containment team that was supposed to keep Lira from evading officers as they started searching the riverbed.
The officer was taken from the scene to a local hospital for treatment.
When law enforcement got to the scene, they searched for Lira, who allegedly opened fire on the officers, injuring two of them, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Law enforcement continued to search along the Salinas River and allegedly found him hiding in the riverbed. They said he tried to leave and go toward Highway 101 and was shot by officers.
Lira was pronounced dead at the scene. The Sheriff's Office said he had two handguns that may have been stolen in a commercial burglary in San Luis Obispo a few days before Wednesday's shooting.
The officers were taken to area hospitals where they are in good condition with non-life-threatening injuries.
UPDATE 6/11/2020 5:45 p.m. The suspect in Wednesday's shooting in Paso Robles was killed Thursday in a gunfire exchange with law enforcement, according to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office.
The suspect, Mason James Lira, was accused of opening fire on a police station, shooting a deputy in the face and killing a man nearby.
While searching for Lira, an officer with Arroyo Grande police was shot near Ramada Drive after police said he confronted him.
Three officers were injured later in an exchange of gunfire with Lira. The officers were with Arroyo Grande police, the Kings County Sheriff's Office and the California Highway Patrol. Their injuries do not appear to be life threatening at this time.
UPDATE 6/11/2020 4:30 p.m. Paso Robles police report that a suspect is down and several officers are injured as a result of a shooting near Ramada Drive.
Originally, KION's sister station confirmed that the officers were shot while searching for the suspect in Wednesday's shooting in Paso Robles, Mason Lira.
Officers confronted Lira by a river bed off Ramada Drive Thursday afternoon.
Arroyo Grande Police confirm that one of their officers, a member of the County's SWAT team, was shot near Ramada Drive after confronting Lira. The officer's injury is not considered life-threatening, according to KEYT, but Lira was not caught.
Hours later, KEYT said Lira was found and confronted again. At that point, Paso Robles police said Lira was hit and incapacitated. His condition is unknown.
The condition of the other officers is also unknown.
UPDATE 6/11/2020 4 p.m. An officer with the Arroyo Grande Police Department was shot Thursday while searching for the suspect in Wednesday's shooting in Paso Robles.
According to KION's sister station in San Luis Obispo County, an Arroyo Grande Police Officer, a member of the regional SWAT team, was helping search for the suspect in Wednesday's shooting in Paso Robles, Mason Lira. While they were near Ramada Drive, officers reportedly confronted Lira and shots were fired. The Arroyo Grande Police officer was hit by gunfire and received a non-life threatening injury.
Law enforcement has set up a perimeter around the area and say a suspect is not in custody.
They are asking people to avoid the area around Ramada Drive and Valpi Ysabel Road. Highway 101 is not closed, but some ramps are closed.
The incident is ongoing and still under investigation.
PREVIOUS STORY: Paso Robles police said they are responding to a reports of shots fired.
The shooting was reported in the area of 46W and Ramada. Residents are asked to avoid the area.
Caltrans District 5 said because of police activity, the Highway4 6, Highway 101 and Ramada Drive interchange, drivers should expect delays and avoid the area.
According to KION's sister station in San Luis Obispo County, residents of Templeton, Paso Robles and Atascadero have reported getting alerts to shelter in their homes.
Background
Law enforcement in San Luis Obispo County is currently searching for the suspect in a shooting Wednesday that killed one person and injured a deputy.
The suspect in Wednesday's shooting is 26-year-old Mason James Lira, who is described as a transient from the Monterey area. He is considered armed and dangerous.
The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office said someone fired a gun at the Paso Robles police station Wednesday morning, and when deputies responded to help, one of them was shot in the face.
A body was found nearby, and Paso Robles police believe the death, ruled a homicide, is connected to Wednesday's shooting.
