A teenage boy was shot by a Lompoc police officer early Saturday, the culmination of a series of incidents that began Friday morning and included a break-out from a hospital emergency room.
The teen was shot once in the upper body at about 12:30 a.m. in the 800 block of North L Street, according to a statement released by police.
The boy, whose name was not being released due to his age, was taken into custody and transported to Lompoc Valley Medical Center.
On Saturday afternoon, police said the 17-year-old boy remains in the hospital and “is recovering.”
The incident began at about 9:15 a.m. Friday, when officers were called to the North L Street location on a report of a fight between two brothers.
One brother suffered minor injuries, and was treated at the scene by paramedics. No arrests were made, police said, as there was a parent on scene, and no charges were requested.
Shortly before 5 p.m., a mobile crisis-response team associated with the Santa Barbara County Department of Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Services asked that officers return to the scene while they contacted the family and offending teenager.
He was taken into protective custody and transported to the hospital.
At 11:15 p.m., police dispatchers were advised that the teen had broken through the sliding glass doors in the hospital emergency room and fled.
Hospital staff and security searched the area, but could not find the boy.
At about 12:15 a.m., the teen’s father contacted police and told them his son was near their residence.
Meanwhile, dispatchers received several calls reporting two males yelling in the street in the area at about the same time.
A patrolling officer located the teen, and exited his vehicle.
“The individual was told to stop numerous times according to witness statements, while at the same time the officer saw what appeared to be a knife in the individual’s hand,” police said in a statement.
“The individual refused to comply with the officer’s commands to stop, advancing on the officer with the weapon and the officer shot one time, hitting the individual once in the upper body area.”
No other officers were present when the shooting occurred, police said.
Investigation determined that when the teen returned to his home, he used a dumbbell to attack his brother, and had just left the residence when he encountered the officer who shot him.
The brother was taken to the hospital, where he was treated and released.
The officer’s name was being withheld pending further investigation, police said. Department officials said they expect to release the name “later in the week, which will give him time to notify his family and friends as well as have time to decompress from an extremely stressful incident.”
Residents in the area reported a Sheriff’s Department helicopter flying over the neighborhood on Saturday morning.
Lompoc police said they would not release any further details at this time since the Sheriff’s Department is still investigating the incident.
It’s standard for the Sheriff’s Department to handle an investigation of a shooting involving a local police department’s officer.
Check back with Noozhawk for updates to this story.
— 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.