Authorities investigate attacks on law enforcement officers

With tensions running high between police and the public since the death of George Floyd, the FBI and local authorities in California are investigating several ambush-style attacks on law enforcement and security officers. Sheriff deputies with the aid of a civilian arrested Air Force Sgt. Steven Carrillo on suspicion of killing Santa Cruz County Sheriff Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller on Saturday in Ben Lomond, Calif., and injuring another officer in an ambush from a van. The FBI also suspects Carrillo was involved in a shooting in Oakland on May 29, when a van pulled up in front of a U.S. courthouse and a person inside the van shot and killed a security officer and wounded another.

Are the shootings connected to protests? The FBI has not said what motivated the Ben Lomond and Oakland attacks, but The Mercury News in San Jose reported that the suspect recently had posted his anti-police views on social media. Meanwhile, police in Paso Robles, Calif., said they shot and killed the gunman who opened fire at a police precinct on Wednesday and injured three officers in two separate incidents. Authorities believe the suspect, 26-year-old Mason James Lira, also is connected with a homicide that took place near the Paso Robles Amtrak Station earlier on Wednesday.

Dig deeper: Read Laura Edghill’s report in Schooled on the future of police as school resource officers. —Kyle Ziemnick

Editor’s note: WORLD has updated this report since its initial posting.