Salinas Rolls Out New “ShotSpotter” System, Suspect Arrested Same Night
Miguel Solano booking photo
SALINAS — Police have arrested a suspect after their now Shot Spotter system detected him firing a gun into the air on December 14th in an East Salinas neighborhood. 30-year-old Miguel Orozco Solano has been arrested on charges of carjacking, kidnapping, and discharging a firearm in a negligent manner.
The city has been promoting its new “ShotSpotter” subscription service over the past several weeks, hoping that it would help mitigate and moderate incident reports of gunshots being fired. The system launched on December 14th.
A live test was conducted to calibrate the sensors and was completed around 11 PM. It was deemed ready and activated, and it was as officers headed back to the station that two shots were detected in the 300 area of Towt Street.
An officer already driving in the area responded and issued an alert with a description of the suspect.
When officers arrived on scene, they found a black truck in front of a home with a man and a woman sitting inside. The man matched the description of the suspect that was issued. Officers were granted permission to search the truck and found a black handgun in the front passenger seat, as well as a spent casing outside near the vehicle.
Solano had apparently fired the gun twice into the air as the two were listening to music. He was arrested and booked into the Monterey County Jail.
