Santa Barbara Police Department has confirmed that last night’s death at Chase Palm Park has been ruled a homicide by police investigators.
On Thursday at about 7 p.m., SBPD officers were dispatched to the park after receiving a 9-1-1 call reporting an unresponsive man. Upon arrival, officers found the man — identified on Friday as 18-year-old Pablo Fabian Hernandez of Santa Barbara — and tried to revive him while waiting for emergency medical personnel. Paramedics transported Hernandez to Cottage Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
Investigators from SBPD’s Criminal Investigation Unit are ruling his death a homicide and said that he “sustained multiple injuries to his upper body during the assault.”
Details of the events leading up to Hernandez’s death are not known at this time, and no arrests have been announced. The investigation is ongoing, but police say that there is “no information indicating the incident is gang related” and that there is no threat to the public at this time.
Police are encouraging those who may know something about the incident to contact the SBPD office by calling (805) 897-2355.
