4 people dead in apparent shooting, structure fire at Santa Maria mobile home park

Four people were reportedly dead in an apparent shooting and structure fire incident Friday at a northwestern Santa Maria mobile home community, according to the Santa Maria Police Department.

Officers responded to the Casa Grande Mobile Estates on the 500 block of West Taylor Street shortly before noon and found two people dead, Sgt. Eligio Lara said.

Police later said two men were found dead near the clubhouse and small golf course area of the community, apparently victims of a shooting, and two more people were believed dead inside one of the mobile homes heavily damaged by a structure fire.

Officers reportedly were pointed in the direction of a specific mobile home unit, and then an apparent explosion and structure fire began burning several of the homes, police said.

“The fire engulfed the entire unit almost immediately and it was a very rapidly moving fire,” police Chief Phil Hansen said.

With multiple gunshot victims, officers initially were concerned an active shooter might be loose in mobile home park.

“One of their greatest priorities was safety of the people in the entire area,” Hansen said of officers who arrived as the scene.

For safety reasons, firefighters were delayed accessing the scene until officers could escort them to the scene, Hansen said.

“We didn’t know if we had somebody roaming in the neighborhood,” he added.

Three or four mobile homes were heavily damaged or destroyed by the fire, authorities said Friday afternoon, and one of the homes reportedly had ammunition inside, which was exploding in the fire.

“That created a safety hazard for residents, for responding officers, and firefighters ... to have rounds just cooking off on a pretty regular basis at that location,” he said.

Identification of the people inside the burned home was expected to take time, Hansen said, adding there was a high likelihood the shooting suspect was inside the first unit that burned.

“Obviously, it was a very intense fire. That complicates identification and things of that nature,” he said. “It appears as though we have two deceased inside the house.”

Hours after the incident, officers were still searching nearby homes and yards to ensure there weren’t any unaccounted for victims.

“Obviously, it’s been a rapidly developing event and we’ve had a lot of concerns,” he said, explaining the reason for the lockdown.

As residents were allowed to return home after 2 p.m., Hansen said there was “a very high likelihood” the shooting suspect died in the original residence that burned.

The chief noted the complex investigation facing officers and said it would take time to determine what weapons were involved and the nature of the incident that caused “this horrific thing to take place.”

In addition to the homicide investigation conducted by police, firefighters plan to do an arson investigation, Hansen said.

Law enforcement, fire and utility agencies responded to the scene Friday afternoon, and helicopters were briefly circling overhead as well.

This story was originally published June 21, 2019 at 1:42 PM.