The Sheriff’s Office has reported that the man shot and killed by deputies following a two-hour pursuit in the north La Cumbre area was Bryan Carreno, a 26-year-old from Santa Barbara, thought to be high on methamphetamine.
A family member of Carreno's called 9-1-1 at about 6:30 p.m. to report he was in the garage behaving erratically, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Carreno left the house and snaked through the neighborhood, witnesses told deputies, climbing on “several roofs” and entering a house where a party was taking place. Detectives and deputies, including helicopter surveillance, searched for him. They found a large kitchen knife and a white baseball cap he dropped outside one of the houses. Canines traced the scent. Witnesses told police he might be armed with a hatchet, but that turned out not to be the case, according to Sheriff’s spokesperson Kelly Hoover.
Deputies eventually got a call from a resident on Russell Way, saying the suspect had broken in and rummaged through a kitchen drawer, Hoover said. These residents lived close to his parent’s house, said Hoover, but they did not know him. The residents went outside while deputies went inside. They found Carreno inside armed with what Hoover described as a "large kitchen knife” with a "four inch handle" and "large blade." The deputies went back outside to an “enclosed” side yard, Hoover said. She said deputies demanded multiple times that Carreno “stop” and “drop the weapon,” but he “refused to follow those” orders. He advanced on the deputies, and five deputies fired “multiple” shots. Hoover declined to comment on the deputies who fired a shot or the number of shots fired. Carreno died at the scene. All five deputies are now on out paid leave, per department policy.