Two More Teen Stabbings

Two more juveniles were stabbed in separate instances of apparent gang violence on Sunday evening, October 28, according to Santa Barbara police. Both male juveniles were taken to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, where they were treated and released.

At approximately 6:30 p.m., a 16-year-old male was walking in the 300 block of Ladera Street on Santa Barbara’s Westside when he was attacked by three others wearing ski masks and wielding baseball bats and a machete. A fight ensued, said Lt. Doug Kresky, and the victim ended up with a laceration on his neck. His family took him to the hospital, where he was treated.

While police were at the hospital investigating the attack, police were notified by hospital personnel about another stab wound victim who had just arrived. Approximately 45 minutes after the first stabbing, a 15-year-old male was attacked by several people in the 600 block of Eucalyptus Avenue, also on the Westside. The teenager was stabbed in the arm and taken to the hospital by his family, where Kresky said the youth was “less than cooperative.” Both victims have been released.

Police believe the incidents are gang-related based on statements made at the scene and at the hospital, but Kresky wasn’t sure if the two victims were gang members or associates. He also didn’t know if the two instances are related. The cases have been handed over to detectives.