An Arroyo Grande woman is dead, and the alleged perpetrator—her adult son—was arrested after a standoff with police in San Luis Obispo.
At approximately 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 17, SLOPD officers responded to the apartment of Christopher John Shumey, 34, near the corner of Beach and Buchon streets, after receiving reports of shots fired and a woman screaming.
According to SLOPD Chief Deborah Linden, the shotgun-wielding suspect fired a shot at the first responding unit from a window on the second floor of the building. Officers took cover, waited for backup, and were then able to verbally convince Shumey to surrender.
Linden said the entire incident lasted roughly 10 minutes, and praised the officers’ ability to negotiate a peaceful surrender.
“This could have been a lot worse,” Linden said. “This, in my opinion, was the best possible outcome in this situation.”
Officers then found Karen Shumey, 65, of Arroyo Grande, lying on the landing at the top of the stairs outside the front door of the apartment, dead of an apparent gunshot wound.
Christopher Shumey was taken into custody and booked on suspicion of murder as well as assault with a firearm against a peace officer.
Karen Shumey was a teacher with the Lompoc Unified School District for more than two decades. News of the loss sent sorrow through the staff and students, said District Assistant Superintendent Hugo Pedroza.
“We lost a wonderful member of our family,” Pedroza told New Times. “This has been a big, big hit to our district.”
Pedroza said the Shumey family has scheduled a public memorial for 1 p.m., Sept. 24, at St. Mark’s-in-the-Valley Episcopal Church in Los Olivos.
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