Teen killed in officer-involved shooting in Santa Cruz County ID’d

UPDATE 11/21/16 8:35AM: The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office has identified the teenager who died in an officer-involved shooting as Luke Smith.

The Sheriff’s Office will release body camera footage of the shooting Monday afternoon.

UPDATE: Students gathered outside the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office to mourn the loss of a 15-year-old boy who was killed in an officer involved shooting just outside Watsonville.

“It’s very sad, thoughts and prayers go to his family,” said Mary Combs whose kids were close to the 15-year-old suspect.

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were called to the 800 block of Amesti Road where they found two men stabbed with life threatening injuries. The suspect was gone.

“Deputies searched the neighborhood and eventually the suspect came out of his hiding place and climbed on top of a fire engine that had arrived to render aid to the stabbing victims,” said Sheriff Jim Hart. “The suspect had a large knife in his hand for the duration of the incident.”

The Sheriff said deputies tried to talk to him but he ran again. Officers found him not far from the scene near Pioneer Road, tried talking to him again and when that did not work they used tasers, a sponge gun and a K-9, efforts the sheriff’s office said were ineffective.

“While the suspect struggled with the K-9 and he was still in possession of the knife, a deputy fired one round from his service rifle striking and disabling the suspect,” said Hart.

Combs said the 15-year-old was a good kid, beyond his years.

“He was active he was a surfer, he was a skate aficionado,” said Combs. “He was brilliant, so it’s just tragic.”

“These cases are very upsetting,” said Hart. “All personnel from my office will fully cooperate with the District Attorney’s Office while they investigate this case.”

The sheriff’s office said it will release video footage of the incident in the coming days. Sheriff’s also said the victims are in critical condition but are expected to survive.

ORIGINAL STORY: A 15-year-old boy suspected of stabbing two people near Watsonville was fatally shot this morning by an officer, according to the Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff Jim Hart said the teenager was related to the two stabbing victims, but do not know of a motive.

One victim suffered critical injuries and the other had serious injuries.

A taser, sponge gun and K9 were used before firing shots, according to Hart.

Investigators will release the body camera video early next week.

Friends of the 15-year-old boy showed up at a press conference Saturday afternoon to learn what happened.

The mother of one of those friends described him as a “nice boy” who attended Aptos High School.

Officials have not yet released the name of the teenager.

The Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Office says the stabbing happened about 3 a.m. Saturday in the 800 Amesti Road just north of Watsonville.

ORIGINAL STORY: The Santa Cruz Sheriff will hold a press conference today, Saturday, at 3 p.m. regarding this morning’s officer involved shooting in Watsonville.

The Santa Cruz Sheriff said deputies were called to the scene of a stabbing in the 800 block of Amesti Road outside of Wastsonville on Saturday at about 3 a.m.. Two people had been stabbed and were taken to the hospital. One of the victims suffered critical injuries and the second victim suffered serious injuries.

The suspect fled the area but was located not far from the scene.

Deputies say the suspect had a knife. He refused to put down the weapon and advanced on deputies with the knife drawn. Deputies fire, hitting the suspect at least once. He died at the scene.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.