Watch video of a deadly police shooting in Lompoc

May 14, 2021

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

The Lompoc Police Department has released footage of a shooting in March in which officers killed a 26-year-old man.

On the evening of March 28, a 911 caller reported a man wearing dark clothing and a mask looked like he was holding a gun. The caller said the man was going into an alley between H and G streets, according to audio of the call released by the police department.

Police arrived in the area and located the suspect. Officers opened fire when the man, Krys Brandon Ruiz, charged at them with a knife, police said. Emergency personnel pronounced Ruiz dead at the scene.

Dashcam footage shows Ruiz walking around in an area with vegetation beside the alley and, at one point, throwing his hands up in the air. The footage then appears to show Ruiz running toward a pair of officers, though it is unclear what, if anything, he was holding.

The officers shoot Ruiz, who stumbles in their direction and falls to the ground. Other officers then approach, guns drawn.

Lompoc police have identified the officers who fired the shots as Corporal Andrew White and Officer Mauricio Calderon. White and Calderon were placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation.

The Santa Barbara County sheriff’s and district attorney’s offices are conducting the investigation into the shooting.