Standstill

This story pretty much brought the newsroom to a standstill on Friday afternoon, taking it all in via police scanner. Especially so for my assistant.

Her husband was sitting there on the 101, watching the whole thing go down: Orcutt resident Damon Locke, 46, witnessed the shootout while driving northbound. He watched as the suspect crossed the median and nearly hit oncoming traffic.

“The truck was off the ground,” Locke said. “It almost hit a school bus.”

Locke said the narcotics officer actually approached the suspect - not vice versa - and sideswiped the suspect's moving van with his own pickup truck. The fatal shootout ensued there.