GUADALUPE, Calif. — A California police officer inadvertently shot and killed a citizen sitting in a vehicle while firing at a suspect over the weekend, according to authorities.
The fatal shooting occurred in the small coastal town of Guadalupe on Saturday at about 9:40 p.m., the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Sunday.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, officers from the Guadalupe Police Department recognized a suspect wanted on an outstanding no-bail felony warrant at Birch and Obispo Street in the city, KSBY reported.
Something prompted an officer to open fire, which remains unclear. During the shooting, an uninvolved citizen was fatally struck by gunfire. Juan Luis Olvera-Preciado, 59, died at the scene, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
The felony warrant suspect was subsequently taken into custody, KTLA reported. Neither officers nor the suspect were injured.
Although Guadalupe Police Chief Michael Cash asked SBSO to conduct the investigation, current state law requires the attorney general to investigate officer-involved shootings that result in the death of an unarmed civilian.
The Santa Maria Police Department will conduct the administrative investigation at the request of the chief.
Cash “met personally with the Olvera-Preciado family to offer his condolences and to coordinate support services,” the statement said.
Neither the officer who opened fire nor the suspect who was arrested were identified, “pending additional interviews and investigative processes,” according to authorities.
