Someone keeps shooting from creek near the SLO Elks Lodge, and police are looking for leads
San Luis Obispo police are searching for one or more suspects thought to be behind several reports of gunshots fired around the area of Elks Lane in San Luis Obispo, where last month one man’s parked RV trailer was shot several times.
No one was injured in the incident, but San Luis Obispo resident Mark Ramirez said he stopped by his trailer at the Elks RV Storage facility next to the Elks Lodge on Nov. 20 to find his vehicle’s side and windows facing San Luis Obispo Creek riddled with bullet holes.
Some of the bullets embedded inside the RV; others exited through the other side, he said.
“I open the door, and there was just dust and wood all over the floor; shattered blinds, broken glass,” he said.
Ramirez said there were signs one bullet grazed the RV’s air conditioning unit on its roof before it apparently continued on in the direction of the San Luis Cemetery, which lies on the other side of Elks Lane from the storage facility.
Ramirez reported the incident to the San Luis Obispo Police Department and posted a short video on Facebook Monday.
“Somebody’s in the creek here shooting guns in San Luis Obispo at the storage facility, making damage,” Ramirez said in the video. “Let’s get ’em.”
He said he posted the video to make the community aware of the issue in the hopes a suspect will be identified.
Police Capt. Jeff Smith confirmed Monday that officers took a vandalism report from Ramirez on Nov. 21.
Smith said there have been a handful of recent reports from people who say they heard what sounded like gunshots coming from the direction of San Luis Obispo Creek in the area of Elks Lane.
But by the time officers arrived on the scene, Smith said, no shots could be heard and whoever was responsible was probably long gone. Though shots-fired calls are not rare, finding property damaged by gunfire is.
“It is unusual,” Smith said.
Though the creekbed behind the lodge and RV storage is known to be frequented by local homeless people, both Smith and Ramirez say they don’t believe the suspect is among the longtime locals that are well-known in the immediate area.
“They’re scared, too,” Ramirez said.
Smith said the department’s Community Action Team is looking into the matter with the help of local residents.
Smith said the department encourages anyone with any information about the vandalism or disturbances to call the non-emergency dispatch line at 805-781-7312, or leave an anonymous tip at CrimeStoppers at 805-549-STOP.
This story was originally published December 17, 2019 at 4:58 PM.
