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Gillespie Shooting Suspect Arrested

Alleged Triggerman Apprehended in Nevada

Monday, March 15, 2010
By Tyler Hayden (Contact)

Santa Barbara detectives, with the help of U.S. Marshals, arrested two suspects allegedly involved in the March 1 shooting that left a Gillespie Street resident with a bullet wound to his head. According to police spokesperson Lt. Paul McCaffrey, Jack Mills, 52, and his wife Rebecca Lee Mills, 50, were arrested Monday morning in Pahrump, Nevada.

At the time of his arrest, Jack Mills was purportedly seated in a 1993 black Volvo sedan, which police believe was used as a “getaway” vehicle immediately following the shooting. Detectives apprehended Rebecca Lee Mills inside the residence — belonging to one of her relatives — outside of which the car was parked. They are both currently booked at the Nye County Correctional Facility.

Jack Mills is being charged with attempted murder, Rebecca Mills with accessory to attempted murder; their bail amounts are set $1,000,000 and $500,000, respectively. Both, said McCaffrey, will be held in Nevada pending extradition procedures. The firearm has yet to be recovered.

Police had been on the lookout for four suspects allegedly involved in a Westside shooting earlier this month. According to police reports, a Hispanic male in his twenties was shot point-blank in the doorway of his 1535 Gillespie Street home after a brief exchange with suspect Jack Mills and two black, male accomplices. Witnesses inside the home, who had did not recognize any of the suspects, described the shooter as an older, white male. They also reported seeing a woman waiting in a black Volvo near the scene.

No motive was identified at the time, and the incident didn’t appear to be gang or drug related, police said. The victim was shot directly in the forehead but was conscious when police arrived. He was then transported to Cottage Hospital in serious condition.

According to McCaffrey, a big break in the case came when a citizen reported seeing a black Volvo parked at a Goleta convenience store the day before the shooting. Both suspects, he also reported, recently lived in Lompoc.

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