Guadalupe police officer shoots, kills bystander after opening fire on suspect
A bystander was shot and killed late Saturday when a Guadalupe police officer opened fire as officers tried to detain a suspect with a no-bail warrant, authorities say.
The incident occurred at 9:40 p.m. after police officers recognized a wanted subject at the intersection of Birch and Obispo streets, said Raquel Zick, spokeswoman for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, which is assisting in the investigation.
Zick said the suspect had an outstanding no-bail felony arrest warrant.
“The sequence of events that transpired after officers contacted the suspect is currently under investigation by the California Department of Justice,” she said in a statement Sunday afternoon.
“At this early stage of the investigation, the details that are available for release are that an officer fired his service weapon at the wanted suspect, but instead struck an uninvolved resident who was sitting in a vehicle in the 100 block of Obispo Street.”
Juan Luis Olvera-Preciado, 59, of Guadalupe, was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:13 p.m.
Zick said the suspect with the felony warrant was ultimately arrested at the scene. Neither he nor the police officer involved in the shooting have been identified, and details of the arrest warrant were not disclosed.
No one else was injured.
The segment of Obispo Street, three blocks north of West Main Street/Highway 166 and a block east of Guadalupe Street, sits between an industrial area, with mostly agriculture-related companies, to the west and one of Guadalupe’s older residential subdivisions to the east. The city’s newest neighborhood, Pasadera Homes, is south of West Main Street.
Soon after the shooting, police Chief Michael Cash formally requested that sheriff’s detectives and forensics technicians conduct the investigation.
“Detectives quickly realized that this incident met the criteria of AB 1506, which requires the Attorney General’s Office to investigate incidents of officer-involved shootings that result in the death of an unarmed civilian,” Zick said.
Assembly Bill 1506, the Deadly Force Accountability Act, took effect July 1 and allows the state Justice Department to review police shootings involving unarmed people for potential criminal liability.
State Attorney General Rob Bonta notified law enforcement agencies about the new procedures last month.
Justice Department personnel will take the lead in conducting the criminal investigation, with assistance from the Sheriff’s Department. At the request of Cash, Santa Maria police will conduct the administrative investigation.
Cash on Sunday met personally with the Olvera-Preciado family to offer his condolences and to coordinate support services, Zick said.
Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
This story was originally published August 23, 2021 at 11:41 AM.