When the shooting happened Thursday morning, deputies first tried to run a traffic stop at Christopher Michael Strobe, 38, near the cemetery. Strobe got out of his vehicle and ran out of the cemetery vineyard, the release said.
He then hid and attacked the hidden children, firing several rounds at them with handguns. Deputy, Deputy of the Year Richard “Ted” Lehnoff was kicked in the leg and taken to a local hospital, where he underwent surgery and is in stable condition, the release said.
Strobe continued to rescue the deputies and try to get back to his vehicle through the vineyard, but additional deputies arrived at the scene and stopped him as he tried to regain ain access to his vehicle.
Strobe was later pronounced dead at the scene, according to the sheriff’s office.
After the shooting, officers found several weapons in Strobe’s vehicle, including four assault-style rifles, a bolt-action hunting rifle, a shotgun, and two handguns fired at deputies, as well as hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
Officers searched Strobe’s residence, where they discovered he was illegally producing weapons parts.
The sheriff’s office said Strobe was a wanted offender and it was illegal for Fallon to carry a weapon.
The sheriff’s office said Strobe was a known member of a white supremacist gang and the sheriff’s gang task force was investigating just before the shooting on Thursday.
Strabe “recorded a significant criminal history and was sent to prison 28 times across California, including two inmates in the state prison.”
Templeton is about 114 miles west of Bakersfield.
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