AnonymousSource: Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office
At the request of the Guadalupe Police Department, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office is assisting with the investigation of an officer-involved shooting in Guadalupe. On Saturday, August 21, 2021, at approximately 9:40 p.m., Guadalupe Police officers recognized a subject at the intersection of Birch and Obispo Streets as a suspect with an outstanding no-bail felony arrest warrant.
The sequence of events that transpired after officers contacted the suspect is currently under investigation by the California Department of Justice (DOJ). At this early stage of the investigation, the details that are available for release are that an officer fired his service weapon at the wanted suspect, but instead struck an uninvolved resident who was sitting in a vehicle in the 100-block of Obispo Street. Tragically, 59-year-old Juan Luis Olvera-Preciado of Guadalupe, was pronounced dead at the scene at approximately 10:13 p.m. The suspect with the felony warrant was ultimately arrested at the scene. Neither the officers nor the suspect were injured.
Sheriff’s Office detectives and forensics technicians responded to the scene at the request of Guadalupe Police Chief Michael Cash to conduct the investigation into the incident. Detectives quickly realized that this incident met the criteria of AB1506, which requires the Attorney General’s Office to investigate incidents of officer-involved shootings that result in the death of an unarmed civilian. DOJ investigators will be the lead in conducting the criminal investigation, with assistance from the Sheriff’s Office. The Santa Maria Police Department will conduct the administrative investigation at the request of Chief Cash.
The identity of both the wanted suspect and the involved officer are temporarily not being released, pending additional interviews and investigative processes. Chief Cash met personally with the Olvera-Preciado family to offer his condolences and to coordinate support services.
