San Luis Obispo police are releasing new information about a commercial burglary tied to the man authorities say went on a shooting spree in Paso Robles last week.
Mason Lira, 26, was killed in an exchange of gunfire with officers in Paso Robles on Thursday, June 11, following a 36-hour manhunt. He was wanted for shooting and killing a man along the train tracks in Paso Robles and shooting a San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's deputy in the face the day before.
After Lira was killed, authorities said he was found to be in possession of two loaded handguns that were believed to have been stolen in a commercial burglary in San Luis Obispo earlier in the week.
On Tuesday, June 9, a lawyer with an office in the 900 block of Osos Street reported to police that his office had been burglarized.
According to police, the burglar entered the business through an unlocked window sometime between 5:30 p.m. on June 8, and 6:30 a.m. on June 9. Clothing, jewelry, a duffle bag, two guns, and some ammunition were taken.
Investigators connected surveillance video from that burglary to surveillance images from an incident on an RTA bus on June 8, in which a man -- later identified as Lira -- threatened to shoot the driver in the head.
Police say they are continuing to investigate the burglary and work with the sheriff's office to determine whether the guns stolen from the lawyer's office are in fact the same guns used in the shooting in Paso Robles.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact Detective Inglehart at (805) 594-8037 or Crime Stoppers at (805) 549-STOP.
