UPDATE:LEBEC, CA (Sunday, May 25, 2014 at 2:14 p.m.)—The Kern County Sheriff’s Coroner’s Office has confirmed that the man who was shot in the 900 block of Starr Court in Lebec on Saturday, May 24 at 3:12 p.m. is Henry Curtis, 49. KCSO said next of kin have been notified.

UPDATE: LEBEC, CA (Saturday, May 24, 2014 at 9:31 p.m.)— Kern County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Ray Pruitt circulated a release this evening about the officer-involved shooting which we began reporting five hours ago. The content of this release is nearly identitical to what we reported in our 6:30 p.m. update. See video at right.

Here is Officer Pruitt’s release for the KCSO:
On May 24, 2014 at about 3:20 pm Kern County Sheriff’s deputies from the Frazier Park substation were dispatched to a home in the 900 block of Starr Court in Lebec regarding a spousal abuse investigation. Two deputies arrived at the house and entered the house to contact an adult male suspect regarding the investigation.

Once inside the home the two deputies made contact with the suspect. At one point the suspect armed himself with a knife and confronted the two deputies. One deputy discharged his firearm striking the suspect at least once. Medical aid was called to the scene and the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.

Detectives responded and have initiated an investigation into the shooting. Neither of the deputies involved in the incident were injured. The suspect was identified at the scene, however his identity is being withheld pending notification of next of kin. The deputy who discharged his firearm will be placed on paid administrative leave pending a review of the shooting.

UPDATE: LEBEC, CA (Saturday, May 24, 2014 at 6:50 p.m.)—Kern County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Ray Pruitt has reported to the media that two officers were called to a Lebec residence in the 900 block of Starr Court in Los Padres Estates, Lebec for a domestic violence incident. Pruitt said that officers entered the home and the male subject inside the house armed himself with a knife and threatened officers. Shots were fired in response and the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene, Pruitt said. See video at right.

Investigators continue to work at the scene. Updates will be posted here as they are available. The full story will also appear this Thursday morning in The Mountain Enterprise newspaper.

UPDATE: LEBEC, CA (Saturday, May 24, 2014 at 6:30 p.m.)—Kern County Sheriff’s Office confirms that the incident in the 900 block of Starr Court in Los Padres Estates is indeed an officer-involved shooting, KCSO spokesperson KCSO Ray Pruitt has announced. Check back here for updates as the investigation continues at the site.

UPDATE: LEBEC, CA (Saturday, May 24, 2014 at 5:11 p.m.)—A report at the scene indicates that the shotgun incident in Lebec may be an officer-involved shooting. The Mountain Enterprise reporter at the scene asked the officer currently in charge, Sergeant Downey, if it was “an officer-involved fatality.” He said he could not comment.

But “Hall Ambulance left with an empty truck,” reporter Gary Meyer observed.

Sergeant Brown of the Frazier Park substation “is on his way up,” the reporter was told, and will make a statement. We will report as the information is available.

LEBEC, CA (Saturday, May 24, 2014 at 4:15 p.m.)—Five CHP units, three to four Kern County Sheriff’s units, an ambulance and Kern County firefighters have responded to a home in Lebec. There is an unconfirmed report of someone with a shotgun wound to the chest. Sergeant Mark Brown is on his way to the area and will provide additional information to The Mountain Enterprise. We will report further as soon as more information is available.

This is part of the May 23, 2014 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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