Photo: Manuel Armando Sanchez
April 13, 2022 – Santa Barbara County, Ca.
It was fast approaching the midnight hour on January 22, 2022 when Santa Maria Police Department officers responded to a 911 Emergency call reporting a shooting in a downtown commercial district. According to Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Raquel Zick, responding officers “found an adult male with major injuriesfrom a shooting,” and immediately transported the victim to Santa Maria’s Marian RegionalMedical Center for treatment of gunshot wounds.
Over the course of the next several weeks, Santa Maria Police Department detectives and Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department Gang unit investigators identified 22-year-old Nipomo resident Manuel Armando Sanchez as the likely shooter. Pursuant to the evidence collected pointing to Sanchez, the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office obtained an arrest warrant for Sanchez on a charge of attempted murder.
While detectives were actively searching for Sanchez throughout Santa Maria and Nipomo, Sanchez came into contact with deputies attached to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department “for unrelated charges.” While his arrest there was being processed, deputies there became aware of the outstanding arrest warrant and promptly notified Santa Maria Police Department detectives.
Sanchez was booked on charges of attempted murder, making criminal threats, and corporal injury to a spouse. He remains in custody with his bail set at $670,000.
Photo: Courtesy San Luis Obispo County Jail Booking
