LOS ANGELES _ A manhunt for a gunman police say killed a Paso Robles resident and seriously wounded a San Luis Obispo County sheriff's deputy entered its second day Thursday.
Mason James Lira, identified by police as the suspect, was spotted at a Paso Robles convenience store around 2 a.m. Thursday, a clerk told KSBY-TV.
The Chevron gas station clerk described the bearded Lira as being sweaty, exhausted and muttering to himself, the TV station reported. Lira, seen on surveillance video wearing jeans and a long-sleeve pullover, didn't do anything threatening, the clerk said, but "seemed crazy" when he purchased an energy drink, according to the TV report.
Lira, a 26-year-old transient from the Monterey area, was gone when authorities arrived at the gas station, San Luis Obispo County sheriff's Sgt. Steve Odom said.
The day before, an early morning shooting at a police station in downtown Paso Robles prompted a massive law enforcement response.
A man began shooting at the Paso Robles Police Department building around 3:45 a.m., and one deputy was shot in the face in the attack.
The gunman then fired at sheriff's and California Highway Patrol cruisers as they arrived to assist police, Odom said. Residents were asked to shelter in place while a search for the suspect got underway.
During the search, detectives found the body of a man who had been shot in the head near the Amtrak station at 8th and Pine streets. The man, who has not been identified but was described as being his 50s, was shot at close range, sheriff's spokesman Tony Cipolla said.
The deputy, who has not been identified, was in serious but stable condition at a trauma center, authorities said.
