A man wanted for shooting a sheriff’s deputy on the Central Coast is dead, but not before police say he wounded three more officers. It was a two days for Paso Robles and Templeton, with evacuations and lockdowns with a gunman on the loose.
Law enforcement officers were searching the Salinas River bed in Paso Robles Thursday afternoon for Mason James Lira when they say he shot one of them. The wounded officer was evacuated from the area. As the search continued police say Lira wounded two additional officers.
Investigators say as the 26 year old transient tried to flee the area, he was shot and killed by police.
Detectives think Lira was responsible for shooting at the Paso Robles Police Department building early Wednesday morning. A San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s deputy responding to the scene was seriously wounded. They also believe Lira shot, and killed a 58-year-old man whose body was found by the Paso Robles train station yesterday.
The deputy wounded Wednesday, Nicholas Dreyfus, underwent surgery, and is now listed in guarded condition.
The three officers wounded today were taken to hospitals for treatment of what are described as non-life-threatening injuries. The injured officers were from the CHP, the Arroyo Grande Police Department, and the Kings County Sheriff’s Office.
