Prosecutors say their review of an officer involved fatal shooting of a bank robbery suspect in Santa Barbara County shows it was justified.
It happened last August. Investigators say Robert Earl Adams ran away from a group home in Nipomo after threatening staff members with a knife. The next morning, they say the 30 year old man robbed an Orcutt credit union, and fled on foot.
A Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s deputy stopped Adams as he was walking on Bradley Road. Witnesses say Adams, still armed with a knife, started walking towards the deputy, ignored multiple orders to stop. The deputy finally opened fire when the man was just a few feet away.
Adams died en route to a hospital. Prosecutors say with the officer’s life threatened by the armed man, the fatal shooting was justified.