Details Still Scarce on Reported Shooting on Santa Barbara’s Eastside

Santa Barbara police remain relatively tight-lipped with details from Monday evening’s reported shooting by the city’s Eastside near Salinas Street and Eucalyptus Hill Road. As of Tuesday morning, there’s no new information as to the condition of the injured person found at the scene and no reports of any suspects having been taken into custody.

At about 5:20 p.m. Monday, police responded to calls of gunshot fire — at least six. When they arrived at the scene, they found what they described as “an out-of-county” adult male who had sustained serious injuries. It was not stated if those injuries came from gunshot wounds or from crashing a black SUV into a neighborhood tree.

Law enforcement agencies issued a shelter-in-place notice for the neighborhood and dispatched SWAT teams, a Bearcat armored vehicle, and two teams of police dogs to scour the area for two suspects reportedly seen fleeing the scene, one reportedly carrying a handgun. Tear gas was reportedly discharged in the search, and helicopters, provided courtesy of the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office, were deployed as well. The shelter-in-place alert was discontinued at 11 p.m.

Monday’s shooting marks the second time this year that gunfire has erupted in this neighborhood. Early in January, four teens were shot on Liberty Street one day before classes were scheduled to resume at Santa Barbara High School. Two were killed and two wounded. Those killings remain unsolved as of this writing. Police spokesperson Joshua Morton said they remain very much an active investigation. Police have told parents of the victims they want to make sure they have an iron-clad case before filing charges and taking their case to the District Attorney’s Office.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to the area of the shooting as the Eucalyptus Hill neighborhood.