Suspect Killed after Shootout with SLO County Sheriff Deputies in Templeton

According to San Obisipo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson, a wanted felon was shot and killed after he tried to go at it with Sheriff deputies in a gun battle in Templeton on Thursday morning, September 24. The fatal shooting incident happened sometime between 10 am and 11 am when a sheriff’s deputy noticed a vehicle belonging to the wanted felon parked along the side of the road. The deputy turned around and discovered that the vehicle was unoccupied but shortly after, saw the suspect walking near the Templeton Cemetery on Cemetery Road and initiated a “pedestrian traffic stop.” However, the suspect fled towards the cemetery. The deputy received assistance from a second sheriff’s deputy from the Templeton substation. SLO County Sheriff Parkinson states that the suspect ran into the cemetery and hid before firing at the deputies, striking one of them in the lower leg. Two more deputies arrived on the scene after hearing reports of shots being fired. The shooting, which ended on Theater Drive, wounded SLO County Sheriff’s Deputy Ted Lehnhoff, while the suspect has been identified as 38-year-old Christopher Michael Straub who was pronounced dead at the scene. Straub had 2 loaded rifles and a loaded magazine in his vehicle, while other firearms, gun maufacturing equipment and parts were also seized from his residence during a search warrant that was conducted in San Luis Obispo. Straub was part of a white supremacist gang. Straub had been previously booked 28 times in prisons all over California. In addition, Straub had also previously served 2 stints in State Prison.