SLO police officer killed in shooting. ‘This is a tragedy beyond measure’
Latest update to this story >> >> Officer killed in SLO: Police yelled ‘He has a gun!’ before witness heard volley of shots
Update, 10:05 p.m.:
A San Luis Obispo Police Department officer was killed in the shooting incident earlier Monday, the city confirmed just after 10 p.m.
According to the release, the shooting occurred at an apartment on Camellia Court off of Margarita Avenue in San Luis Obispo.
The suspected shooter was killed by police. A second officer was injured and transported to an area hospital. That officer is in stable condition, according to the release.
“This is a tragedy beyond measure for all of those who serve and care about our community,” City Manager Derek Johnson said in a statement. “Our deepest condolences go out to the family. We are devastated by this loss.”
The identities of the officers and the suspect were not released.
Additional details about the incident will be released as they are available on the City’s website www.slocity.org.
Update, 9:15 p.m.:
A line of both marked and unmarked police vehicles — red and blue lights flashing — made a silent procession down South Higuera Street late Monday night, just hours after a police-involved shooting in the area.
The San Luis Obispo Police Department has confirmed two officers were shot while serving a search warrant. Their conditions are still unknown.
The suspect in the incident is dead, according to police.
Update 7:50 p.m.:
Another neighbor, Victoria Torres, 21, said she was upstairs in her bedroom when the incident started outside an apartment across from her.
“I heard like a very loud knocking — I don’t know if it was the police or what,” she said. “I always hear noises here so I didn’t think anything of it until I heard the gunshots.“
Torres said she didn’t really know what gunshots sounded like, but the sounds were “so extremely loud,” she knew something was wrong.
She looked out her window and saw a cop car. Then she walked downstairs and looked out another window.
“That’s when I saw the man,” she said.
He was carrying a “big gun” and began shooting at officers from the door of an apartment, Torres said. The officers were hiding behind their car.
Torres went back upstairs to hide and call 911.
“I was pretty startled and frightened,” she said. “I just hid. I looked out the window again when it got quiet. Because I wasn’t sure what happened.”
By that time the officers had moved to behind Torres’ car. She said she wasn’t sure where the man with a gun was after that.
“Then I decided to not watch anymore because it was too scary,” she said.
Update, 7:10 p.m.:
Two officers were shot while serving a search warrant Monday afternoon near an apartment in the area of South Higuera Street and Margarita Avenue, according to a Police Department news release.
The suspect is dead, and there is no threat to the public at this time, according to the release.
The department gave no details about the condition of the officers.
It is asking people to avoid the area while an investigation is being conducted.
Additional information is expected to be released on the city’s website when it becomes available.
Update, 6:57 p.m.:
Details are still scarce regarding the incident, but a witness at the scene said she heard loud banging on a door, as well as police yelling, before a series of shots.
Monica Rochte, 31, said she could heard the police banging on a door from own apartment across the street, saying, “We’re going to come in. We know you’re in there.”
Rochte was working from home and about to take out the garbage when the commotion began, she said. She decided to stay inside instead.
Rochte said the yelling continued for a while before a huge bang, which she thought sounded like they knocked down the door, and then a single shot.
Rochte said at that point she could hear police yelling, “He has a gun!” before a series of 15 to 20 more sporadic shots rang out.
“I would have never expected something like this to happen, especially down here because it’s like, it’s mostly just like families and stuff,” Rochte said. “Some care homes down the way. The only time we have an ambulance is because one of the older people at that care home needs care.”
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Update, 6:20 p.m.:
Police are currently clearing area to begin investigation.
Several officers could be seen consoling each other as ambulances left scene.
South Higuera Street at the Department of Motor Vehicles office is currently blocked off to traffic, as well as Margarita Avenue.
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Original story:
Police were on the scene of a potential active shooter incident in a San Luis Obispo neighborhood on Monday evening.
Witnesses near an apartment complex on Camellia Court of Margarita Avenue reported gunshots sometime before 5:20 p.m.
Police scanner traffic indicated at least one officer had not responded to radio calls and was potentially down.
A Tribune photographer at the scene said officers were pointing rifles at an apartment complex, before they went upstairs to a room en force. Soon after that, at about 5:45 p.m., a suspect was reported down, according to scanner traffic.
Three gurneys had been wheeled into the building as of 5:50 p.m. but nobody had been wheeled out. Crime scene tape was being put up around the complex.
The California Highway Patrol, San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office, San Luis Obispo City Fire Department and San Luis Ambulance were at the scene.
Tribune photographer David Middlecamp contributed to this report.
This story was originally published May 10, 2021 at 5:57 PM.
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