Shot of a Lancaster representative: a pellet gun is seized and sent for testing purposes to establish a link with the attack

LANCASTER, Calif. (CA) – Authorities are testing a pellet gun that was found and seized near the Lancaster Sheriff's Station, where a deputy was shot dead on Wednesday.

MP Angel Reinosa, a 21-year-old patrol traine, was heading to his car on Wednesday afternoon at the employees' parking lot when he was shot down, apparently from a nearby building overlooking the sheriff's station. Reinosa wore a vest and was not seriously injured, but was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

The shooting triggered a large manhunt and a search and evacuation operation of the nearby apartment complex. The search ended late at night without any suspects being detained.

The investigators confirmed Thursday that they had found and recovered a plume gun in one of the flats they had searched.

He was taken to the department's sheriff's crime lab for forensic tests. The deputy minister's uniform was also sent to the laboratory for testing.

A resident of the building said that the authorities had searched his apartment and seized an airgun that he had described as an accessory used to act as a protagonist.

"From the beginning, I told them that I was playing cops in movies and on television, and that I have small arms," ​​said Kent McGuire, a resident of the building who was raided. "They went in and they searched, and they destroyed the whole apartment, they upset everything."

McGuire was questioned. He says that one of the detectives told him that they suspected the MP might have been hit by a BB.

He added that his airguns included a short-barreled rifle and that he had never used a BB.

McGuire said that there was no indication from the investigators that he was considered a suspect.

It was not clear right away if McGuire's airgun was the same object that had been sent to the test, as described by the Sheriff's Department in a press release.

Reinosa was heard when shooting on emergency radios.

LANCASTER SHOOTING: Wounded MP calls for his own shot in dramatic sound

"I took gunshots from the north of Lancaster Heliport," it was reported on the radio. "I think I'm touched on the right shoulder."

He was treated for a gunshot wound on one of the shoulders and was released from the hospital. He did not need surgery because his bullet-proof vest absorbed the weight of the bullet.

The shooting and evacuation were frightening for the surrounding residents, who feared a new mass shootout. They reported hearing screaming from the sheriff's station.

"Please find this person," said a resident. "Because it puts the whole community at risk, we have children, we have families, we have grandmothers, we have mothers here, it's important."