Injured SLO Deputy from Fresno Recovering, Shot During Attack at Los Banos Police Precinct

Deputy Nicholas Dreyfus at his pinning ceremony when becoming a San Luis Obispo county Sheriff’s Deputy. Photo: San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office

UPDATE: The manhunt is over for the gunman wanted for an ambush attack on a
SLOS heriff Deputy Nicholas Dreyfus in Paso Robles Wednesday. Police say suspected shooter, Mason Lira, is “down” and several officers were wounded during an exchange of gunfire today.

Paso Robles, CA — The San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Office has released the identity of the deputy shot on Wednesday.

San Luis Obispo County Deputy Nicholas Dreyfus was shot in the head on Wednesday, June 10th in Paso Robles.

28-year old Dreyfus began with the Sheriff’s Office in October 2018.

He is currently assigned to the North County Sheriff’s Station in Templeton.

“While searching for the suspect in the active shooter incident, Dreyfus was shot in the face.

He was transported to a local hospital and then flown to a trauma center out of the area where he underwent surgery for his injuries.

The surgery was successful.

He is listed in guarded condition and his prognosis is good.

Dreyfus is married. His wife and family members are with him as he recovers.”

San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson says the man believed to have shot him is 26-year-old Mason James Lira.

Lira lived in Fresno and Visalia before moving to the coast according to court documents.

He has a history of mental illness and has a misdemeanor criminal history in Tulare County, ranging from battery on a peace officer to which he pleaded guilty in 2015, and most recently failing to appear on a 2019 returning to a school campus case.

In August of 2019, an Amtrak train departing from Eugene, Oregon was forced to make an unscheduled stop because Lira was allegdly threatening to harm himself and others on the train.

Police in Oregon said Lira, was talking about weapons and threatening passengers and the train conductor.

Lira was seen purchasing food @ a convenience store around 2:00AM Thursday morning.

Sheriff Parkinson says Lira also shot and killed another man before shooting Deputy Dreyfus.

Los Banos Police found the body of a 58-year-old transient, who had been shot in the back of the head, on the Amtrack platform in Paso Robles, after the shooting at the police precinct .

Deputy Dreyfus posted about his love of being in Law Enforcement, just 7 days before he was ambushed.

Read Nick’s post from his Facebook page:

June 3 at 7:54 AM

As a law enforcement officer, I often see people at their lowest point in life, on the worst day of their life, or on their worst behavior.

In my short career, I’ve seen neighbors be hateful to each other over the most seemingly inconsequential issues. I have seen neighbors be pretty awful to each other actually.

I’ve seen husbands who have beat their wives, wives who have beat their husbands and parents who have neglected their kids.

I’ve seen people that have been stabbed, shot, and killed in senseless acts of violence.

I’ve seen people addicted to drugs and alcohol, and I’ve seen many broken homes.

I’ve seen people struggle with countless mental illnesses.

I’ve been yelled at, insulted, threatened, punched at, kicked at, ran from, fought and injured.

My experience is not special or unique, as I’m sure all of my colleagues have experienced the same or worse.

Every day I go to work not knowing what to expect, not knowing if I’ll get in a fight, have to take someone’s life, or have my life taken in defense of my community.Despite all of that, this job is pretty freakin’ cool, and I try not to let the inherent negativity of this job weigh me down or disappoint me.

Over this past week however, I’ve felt an admitted sense of defeat as I watch people riot in the streets, loot businesses and spew hatred about my brothers and sisters in uniform, due to a terrible act which resulted in tragedy, that was committed by a person who I strongly believe does not represent my fraternity as a whole. I have been disappointed over people’s reaction to this tragedy.

Since becoming a cop, I have met, been trained by, mentored by, and worked with law enforcement officers that I think are truly exceptional human beings. I could go on forever complementing them and singing their praises, but they wouldn’t want me to waste your time with it.

In my own community that I serve, I have noticed a tremendous amount of law enforcement support from people, thanking me for my service, telling me to be safe, and showing appreciation for the job my brothers, sisters and I do. That includes my own friends and family. To those people, I thank you. This message is not for you.

This message is for the people, largely in my own generation, spreading hate about people in my line of work. This message is for the people that know me, know I’m a cop, and know my wife, who is obviously married to a cop, and still post negative things about people in law enforcement as a whole on social media. This message is for the people who tag All Cops Are Bastards on buildings, and scribe Blue Lives Murder on their protest boards.

To all those people, know this.

You can hate us, slander us, and think we are terrible people because of what we do for work, but when you call us for help, we will be there.In your most tragic days, we will be there to help pull you through.

When someone is trying to break into your house, we will be there.

When your lives are in danger, we will intercept that danger and protect you.

When your family member is suicidal, we will be there to intervene.

We will willingly run into a school toward the gunfire to save your children from active shooters.

We will lay down our lives in your defense and in defense of the people you love.

We will do these things with little to no hesitation.

Remember that.

If you’ve read this far through this message, thank you for taking the time to read it. Hopefully, it offered some perspective.

Don’t support the spread of hate, no matter who it’s directed at or where it comes from.

Feel free to share this with anyone you think needs to hear it.