Paso Robles shooting suspect dead, investigation continues

MONTEREY, Calif. (KION)

The search for the Monterey man who began a shooting spree in Paso Robles is now over.

Things came to a violent end, Thursday night, when sheriffs responded to a shooting on Spring Street in Paso Robles where they encountered the suspect, Mason James Lira.

Lira shot and injured four deputies and was then fatally shot.

There are still questions surrounding the motive behind the string of shootings.

Lira is also accused of a homicide at the Paso Robles Amtrak station, the Paso Robles Police Department building which resulted in a deputy being shot in the face, a shooting at a Paso Robles gas station, and the final shooting last night where law enforcement closed in and took him down.

Initially, San Luis Obispo County Sheriffs said they questioned whether recent protests against law enforcement had anything to do with the shootings.

The San Luis Obispo County Sheriffs Office says that because it took them over an hour and a half to get Lira last night, they believe it was a planed ambush.

"This is not a win. This is an end to something we wished never happened," says Sheriff Ian Parkinson.

"The only fortunate thing about it is the community is safe tonight."

During the ensuing investigation, two guns were discovered in Lira's possession.

Sheriffs say these are connected with the previous shootings and may have been stolen in a commercial burglary days before the shooting spree began.

One person was confirmed dead at the shooting on Thursday.

The four injured deputies sustained non-life threatening injuries and are expected to recover.

Sheriff Parkinson says the Sheriff's Office is still taking in a lot of information and will continue to examining evidence to investigate.