Santa Maria Police shoot and kill another suspect

January 14, 2013

In the latest in a string of officer involved shootings, Santa Maria Police shot and killed a man Sunday night at a home on East Sunset Avenue.

This is the fifth officer involved shooting in the north Santa Barbara County city in a little more than a year.

Shortly after 10 p.m., a 911 caller reported a man had stabbed her neighbor during a domestic dispute before he chased the victim into her home. The suspect then fled out the back door, hopped a fence and entered another yard.

After police confronted the armed suspect, he attempted to attack them and they responded by shooting him, police said.

Emergency personnel transported the injured woman, suffering from a stab wound to the chest, to a local hospital. She is in stable condition.

In Dec. 2011, officers attempting to take a man into custody shot and killed the suspect. During the incident, officers also shot and wounded two of their own even though the suspect never fired a shot.

A month later, a Santa Maria officer shot and killed his best friend, a fellow officer suspected of having a sexual relationship with a teenager.

In July, a man chased by authorities through the streets of Santa Maria died of multiple gunshot wounds after investigators say he confronted a police officer with a gun.

Less than a week later, on August 3, officers were in a high speed chase with a man who had been seen brandishing a weapon. Police placed a spike strip on the road which disabled the vehicle. The suspect then stepped out of the car with a gun in his hand and officers shot and killed him.