KCOY Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo - NewsSMPD Withholding Name of Officer Killed

SMPD Withholding Name of Officer Killed

SANTA MARIA - Santa Maria Police Chief Dan Macagni says he cannot release the name of the police officer killed or the name of the other police officer who fired the fatal shot because it's a criminal investigation.

"I don't think all of the family has been notified on each end", SMPD Chief Dan Macagni told reporters at a press briefing on the shooting, "all the members of my organization have not even been notified." 

Chief Macagni says the officer killed was a four year veteran of the police department.

Macagni would not reveal what division the officer was assigned to saying only that he had no prior complaints filed against him. 

Macagni also would not say how the dead officer found out he was being investigated for having what's been described as an explicit sexual relationship with a 17 year old girl. 

Macagni says the allegations against the officer, if proven true, would have sent him to prison. 

"There is some witness intimidation involved", Macagni says, "the information that we had in hand demanded that we not let him leave that scene, get in a car, drive somewhere, it would put the public at risk, if he did, we just did not know what was going to happen, we did not expect him to react the way that he did." 

Macagni says the officer who fired the fatal shot is at least an eight year veteran of the department and is now on paid administrative leave. 

The chief says he thinks it's the first time in the history of the Santa Maria Police Department something like this has happened.

"The law enforcement community is impacted significantly because of this, this is just wrong", Macagni says, "it's just unfortunate it had to end this way for everyone involved." 

The officer killed in the shooting leaves behind a wife.