Man fired an AR-15 from SLO Creek toward Elks Lodge, police say. Now he’s in custody
Police say they have caught the person responsible for more than a dozen shots fired from the creek bed toward the Elks Lodge and San Luis Cemetery over eight months that hit an occupied house and other private property.
The investigation led to the arrest 56-year-old Guy Wicks, a San Luis Obispo resident, who police say was found with evidence that led to the discovery of an AR-15 rifle hidden by the creek.
In a news release Wednesday, the San Luis Obispo Police Department said that between October 2019 and March, the department received eight reports of gunfire or fireworks in the 200 and 300 blocks of Elks Lane in San Luis Obispo, near the Elks Lodge and San Luis Cemetery.
No suspect was located during any of those reports, but in one incident, investigating officers located multiple bullet holes in the side of an unoccupied motor home in long-term storage.
The owner of that vehicle told The Tribune in December that one bullet appeared to have 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.
On March 19, the department received a report of a single gunshot into an occupied residence in the 300 block of Elks Lane. During this investigation, a search of the home and adjacent creek area was conducted but no suspect was located.
Between March 19 and July 15, seven additional reports of shots fired, or fireworks, were reported, the news release says. During one of these investigations, officers found evidence of a single gunshot into a large water pipe.
The department says its been conducting regular searches of the surrounding creek area to find evidence linked to the shootings.
During a search Wednesday, officers contacted Wicks off Elks Lane and police say evidence was found at that time linking him to an AR-15 tactical rifle found hidden in the area.
Police say additional evidence links Wicks to the recent shootings of property, and Wicks was arrested and booked into County Jail on suspicion of possession of an assault weapon, possession of a high-capacity magazine, as well as being a felon possessing a firearm and ammunition.
The department says the investigation is ongoing, and officers are still attempting to gather additional evidence into the motorhome, residential, and water line shootings.
