The names of four Santa Barbara County sheriff’s deputies who shot and killed a murder suspect in Hope Ranch earlier this month were released Tuesday by the Sheriff’s Department.
Three of the deputies were law enforcement veterans, while the fourth was relatively new to the force, said Raquel Zick a department spokeswoman.
The deputies who fired their weapons were:
» Sgt. Desiree Thome, 12 years, 10 months of service
» Special Duty Deputy Jeremy Rogers, 13 years, 10 months of service
» Deputy Phillip Farley, 13 years, 5 months of service
» Deputy John Gruttadaurio, 2 years of service
Deputies responded to the Hope Ranch home of actor Ron Ely and his wife, Valerie Lundeen Ely, at about 8:15 p.m. Oct. 15 on a report of a family disturbance.
Inside the home at 4141 Mariposa Drive they found Lundeen Ely, 62, dead of multiple stab wounds.
The couple’s son, Cameron Ely, 30, was quickly identified as the murder suspect, and deputies began searching for him outside the home. They located him on the 1½-acre property.
“The suspect told deputies that he had a gun, advanced toward the deputies, and motioned with his hands as if he were drawing a weapon,” Zick said. “In response, four deputies fired a total of 24 rounds from their service weapons, fatally wounding the suspect.”
She said that when deputies were able to safely approach Cameron Ely using a ballistic shield, they found that he had feigned being armed and did not have a weapon.
None of the deputies was injured, and Ron Ely, who is 81 and best known for his starring role in the 1960s Tarzan TV series, also was unhurt.
The Sheriff’s Department is investigating the officer-involved shooting, and will turn its finding over to the District Attorney’s Office to determine if they acted properly in fatally shooting the suspect.
Two of the deputies who shot Ely have returned to active duty and two have not, Zick said, adding that she could not elaborate.
— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
