[Update: Fri., May 8, 2026, 3:25 p.m.] The Santa Barbara Police Department sent a further update on what is known about the shooting at La Cumbre near State Street this morning.
A 30-year-old man identified as Mitchell Grant Grote has been arrested on the presumption of attempted murder of a police officer. He was taken into custody at La Cumbre Mall after an officer “attempted to contact” him near La Cumbre Road. He walked away, turned to face her, and “fired several shots,” the Police Department release stated. The officer fired one round. Police reported that “a weapon recovered at the scene was determined to be a pellet gun.”
The officer, who was not identified, was struck in the head by a pellet/BB gun projectile, taken to Cottage Hospital, and released. Grote was not struck by gunfire, according to the media release.
[Update: Fri., May 8, 2026, 12:55 p.m.] Santa Barbara Police Department issued a statement following the incident on Friday morning, confirming that one officer was injured in what is being called an “officer-involved shooting” on South La Cumbre Road. The officer, who appeared to sustain a minor wound to the head, according to witnesses at the scene, was taken to the hospital and is in stable condition.
The individual believed to be involved in the shooting was taken into custody without any reported injuries. SBPD said the incident was isolated and there was no further threat to the public. The shooting is being investigated by the Santa Barbara District Attorney’s Office.
According to witnesses who spoke to the Independent, multiple gunshots were heard on Friday morning on South La Cumbre Road, near the AT&T Store and O’Reilly Auto Parts. The witnesses said the police officer appeared to be shot after approaching a man that was seen holding a gun. The armed man then fled to La Cumbre Plaza, where he reportedly hid in a public bathroom before police took him into custody around 10 a.m.
Jose Garcia, owner of Sierra Landscape Designs, witnessed the incident from his office. Garcia says he saw an SBPD officer approach a transient man in the parking lot of O’Reilly Auto Parts. The man, who Garcia said was known to spend time in the area, began to walk down La Cumbre Road toward the freeway and the officer reportedly followed. Garcia lost sight of the man as he moved behind the AT&T store, then heard a loud bang that “sounded like a nine mil.” He then witnessed the police officer take several steps back, pull out her gun, and fire.
Garcia saw the suspected shooter run into La Cumbre Plaza with a gun in his hand. As he fled, the police officer’s partner exited their vehicle and attended to the officer who was wounded in the confrontation. Garcia said the injury did not seem life-threatening, as the officer was standing and walking before leaving the scene. He added that the officer appeared to have been shot on the right side of the head, but that it looked to be a “flesh wound.”
The man reportedly fled into a bathroom at the mall. Sources present at La Cumbre Plaza witnessed the suspected shooter being taken away in an ambulance following a large police response.
[Original Story] A large police response was reported at La Cumbre Plaza on Friday morning, following reports of possible gunshots leading to one man being taken into custody.
Santa Barbara Police Department sent an official alert at 10:36 a.m. asking members of the public to “avoid the area until further notice.” According to witness reports published by local media, multiple shots were heard earlier in the morning before police responded and surrounded one person near the mall bathroom.
One person was reportedly taken into custody.
Early radio reports suggested that an officer may have been wounded, though the Santa Barbara Police Department could not verify details of the incident as of 11 a.m. Friday.
