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Crime & Courts

Arroyo Grande police officer shot in Paso Robles identified

ag officer shot in paso
Arroyo Grande Police Department
Sergeant Michael Smiley of the Arroyo Grande Police Department has been identified as one of the officers injured in a confrontation with Mason James Lira
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Published 10:58 am

ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. - The Arroyo Grande police officer who was shot during a confrontation with Paso Robles shooter Mason Lira has been identified.

Sergeant Michael Smiley is a 16-year veteran with the Arroyo Grande Police Department. Smiley is a team leader of the San Luis Obispo Regional SWAT Team and has been part of that group for the last 8 years.

Smiley was wounded while searching for the man believed to have killed a homeless man and ambushed San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's deputy Nicholas Dreyfus early Wednesday morning. Smiley is recovering at home with family and is expected to make a full recovery, the Arroyo Grande Police Department said.

Smiley was the second officer shot by the suspect in the Paso Robles shooting, Mason James Lira, who was last known to have lived in Monterey County.

Four officers were injured by gunfire while searching and confronting Lira.

They are Dreyfus, Smiley, Kings County Sheriff's deputy Blake Bursiaga, and a California Highway Patrol trooper who has not yet been identified.

All of those officers suffered injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening.

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