A man is in custody after opening fire at a North San Diego County plant nursery Friday night, killing one man and injuring two others, including his own daughter.
Deputies responded to Atkins Nursery on Reche Road at around 3 p.m. SkyRanger 7 flew over the scene and saw dozens of patrol cars and fire department vehicles on and outside of the property. Medics were seen taking at least one person away on a stretcher.
By 3:15 p.m. on Friday, deputies had a suspect in custody, according to Sheriff Kelly Martinez.
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SDSO homicide detective Lt. Chirs Steffen said the suspect, described as a man in his 50s, used a rifle to shoot and kill another man in his 50s in a barn on the property. Responding deputies found him in a barn, along with the deceased man's body, and took him into custody without incident, Lt. Steffen said.
The suspected shooter and all three victims worked at the nursery in some capacity, according to Steffen. One of the victims who was injured is the suspect's own daughter. She is described as being in her late 30s, Steffen said.
The daughter and a man in his 70s were hospitalized with gunshot wounds to their torso but are expected to survive, Steffen said. However, due to their injuries, they won't be able to speak with investigators for a couple of days, according to Steffen.
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The sheriff's department identified the suspect late Friday as 76-year-old, Enrique Barajas Gutierrez. He was taken into custody without injury.
The victims have also been identified, but their names are not being released at this time.
Steffen said it's unclear if the nursery was open to the public at the time of the shooting, but there were several uninvolved people on the property at the time.
Reche Road was closed between Old Highway 395 and Gird Road until around 8 p.m.
Not far from the shooting scene, at around 4 p.m., SkyRanger 7 spotted deputies involved in a traffic stop at Reche Road and Marianne Lane. Deputies had their guns drawn on a car. Steffen said it is still unclear if the traffic stop was connected to the arrest.
At the Fallbrook farmer's market on Saturday, many folks were still discussing the shooting.
Fallbrook resident and local business owner Leslie Summers has lived in the city for 32 years.
“I’ve been getting calls from friends around the country asking if I’m okay and if I heard about the shooting in Fallbrook and unfortunately not everyone is okay," Summers told NBC 7.
“It’s happening everywhere around the country. It almost feels like I don’t want to leave my house anymore," Summers added.
Lea Brown is another Fallbrook resident and business owner who feels uneasy.
“You do see it a lot on TV where people do these things, it’s just never in your backyard. So yeah, it did make us nervous,” Brown said.
“Everyone asked me, ‘how close were you?’ and yeah it was a big topic all the way down the street with all the vendors," Brown added.
The Governor's Office released a statement saying they were following the developments the shooting.
"We are monitoring the shooting in San Diego and coordinating closely with local officials on this developing situation. Our thoughts are with those impacted by today’s act of violence, and all the Californians recovering from tragic shootings this year," the statement said.
Martinez thanks the Carlsbad, Oceanside and Escondido police departments, as well as the CHP, Carlsbad Fire Department and North County Fire Protection District.
This story will be updated as new information becomes available.
