FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE) — One of the officers shot during the standoff in San Luis Obispo was a member of the Kings County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team assisting local law enforcement in the area.
The San Luis Obispo sheriff had requested the help of another tactical team, so the Kings County SWAT team headed out there this morning. It was around 4 p.m. when shots broke out.
“We were monitoring radio traffic from the manhunt. We knew that our SWAT team was there, that they were on the inner perimeter,” said Assistant Sheriff Robert Thayer, Kings County Sheriff’s Office.
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“Two more officers were injured. One a California Highway Patrol officer was shot in the bulletproof vest. A second deputy sheriff from Kings County got out of the armored vehicle to rescue the CHP officer that had just been shot, and was shot himself just above the knee,” said Paso Robles Police Chief, Ty Lewis.
Deputy Blake Bursiaga is a seven-year veteran with the Kings County Sheriff’s Office, and has served on the SWAT team for about a year.
“One of those guys that gives just that little bit extra to be on a team that serves our community in these kinds of incidents, that goes where other people don’t want to go,” said Kings County Sheriff’s Office, Assistant Sheriff Robert Thayer.
Bursiaga is currently recovering at a hospital on the Central Coast.
“I just got off the phone with him. He’s in a hospital in San Luis Obispo I believe, and he was in good spirits considering the circumstances.”
Both deputy Bursiaga and the CHP officer are expected to be okay.