The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department might not make any arrests in a Christmas Day shooting that sent a Santa Maria man to the hospital with a gunshot wound to his shoulder.
Byron Hightower, 33, of Santa Maria, was shot once in the shoulder outside a relative’s home in the 300 block of Via Promesa and taken to Marian Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries, according to Sgt. Ron Hastie.
Hightower was released from the hospital Tuesday afternoon, a hospital spokesperson said.
The suspected shooter, a 56-year-old man who lived at the residence and whose name is being withheld by the Sheriff’s Department, wasn’t arrested after the shooting.
“There still haven’t been any arrests,” Hastie said Tuesday morning. “At this time, we don’t anticipate any arrests.”
Self-defense may have been a factor in the shooting, which is why there may be no arrests in the case, he said, but detectives will meet with representatives of the District Attorney’s Office in the next few days to review the case and determine whether to file charges.
Hightower didn’t live at the Nipomo residence and is related to the suspected shooter by marriage, Hastie added.
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