Mariposa deputy shot this week expected to recover

A Mariposa County sheriff’s deputy shot twice in a gunfight earlier this week with a Merced man is expected to recover, a sheriff’s official said Friday.

“He will definitely recover, but it’s going to be a long, long road to recovery,” said Kristie Mitchell, a sheriff’s spokeswoman said in a telephone interview.

Deputies released few other new details regarding the Thursday morning shootout between four sheriff’s deputies and the gunman.

Brian Ballasch, 35, has been accused of shooting at deputies around 6 a.m. on Highway 49, south of Mariposa. Ballasch, whom deputies have described as a U.S. Marine Corps veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, also was wounded and expected to recover.

He has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder of a peace officer.

Ballasch was named in an officer-safety bulletin given to the Merced Police Department a day before the shooting. Merced police did not broadcast the information with other agencies until after the shootout with Mariposa deputies.

Mitchell said there was no timetable available Friday for releasing the names of the deputies involved in the shooting. The California Highway Patrol is leading the investigation into the shooting. Mariposa deputies are also conducting an internal review of the shooting, a standard procedure in any critical incident, Mitchell said.

This story was originally published October 2, 2015 at 6:24 PM with the headline "Mariposa deputy shot this week expected to recover."