A police officer in California accidentally shot and killed a bystander while shooting at a suspect, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Sunday. The incident took place in Guadalupe around 9:40 p.m. on Saturday, Associated Press reported. 

Guadalupe police officers were on the lookout for a person with an outstanding felony arrest warrant. They recognised the suspect at an intersection following which, one of the officers opened fire. The bullet accidentally struck 59-year-old Juan Luis Olvera-Preciado, who was sitting inside a car. He succumbed to injuries  at the scene. In the meantime, the felony suspect was taken into custody. 

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Guadalupe Police Chief Michael Cash asked the sheriff’s office to conduct the investigation but detectives soon realised that the incident fell under a state law that requires the attorney general to investigate incidents of officer-involved shootings that result in the death of an unarmed civilian.

Cash “met personally with the Olvera-Preciado family to offer his condolences and to coordinate support services,” a statement issued by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office said, Associated Press reported. 

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The identities of the officer who opened fire or the suspect who was arrested were not revealed “pending additional interviews and investigative processes,” the statement added. 

Earlier this year, a Texas cop accidentally shot accidentally shot a baby at a gas station. The officer was confronting an armed suspect when he took out his gun and fired multiple shots, killing the accused carjacker on the spot. A bullet accidentally struck the one-year-old child, who was sitting in the backseat of a car, in the head. The toddler was rushed to a local hospital for treatment where she remained in stable condition. Meanwhile, the officer, who is a 15-year veteran of the city’s police department, was placed on administrative pending an investigation.