Two shootings occurred Saturday night in Santa Maria — one that left a man dead and a suspect in custody on murder charges.
At 9:20 p.m., personnel from the Santa Maria police and fire departments, along with an American Medical Response ambulance, were dispatched to the 200 block of East Main Street near Louie B’s bar.
They found one person who had received life-threatening injuries, and was transported to a local hospital, where he later died.
“An individual has been detained, and investigators are trying to determine his involvement,” Lt. Russ Mengel said. “We are in the earliest stages of the investigation.”
Mengel later said that Ron Tutay, 27, from the state of Washington was booked into the County Jail on suspicion of murder.
The victim’s name was being withheld pending notification of relatives.
As police began investigating that shooting, officers were dispatched to a second incident in the 800 block of North Broadway, near Alvin Avenue.
The second incident reportedly involved a shooting from a vehicle after an altercation — possibly sparked after a subject struck a vehicle with a bat and broke a window, Sgt. Danny Rios said.
All of the subjects left the area before police arrived, and there was no report that anyone had been injured in the incident, Rios added.
However, officers found shell casings in the area confirming a shooting occurred, Rios said.
The two shootings don’t appear to be related.
Anyone who may have information important to the homicide investigation is asked to contact Detective Oscar Corral at 805.928.3781, ext. 2243.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
