Police Say Westside Shooting is Isolated Incident

I did not hear a report of a gunshot on the scanner, I assumed this was a stabbing, but if a witness or neighbors heard a gunshot that would make sense too.
~Bob on the Scanner

The latest update from Palminteri: KEYT Newschannel 3-12 reports the man taken from San Pascual street (at Anapamu) to Cottage Hospital Monday about 7:30 pm was the victim of a possible gunshot. Awaiting further details from the Santa Barbara Police dept.

Aware - What do you want to know about "growing gang violence?" In spite of your "reputable sources," I don't believe gangs simply "pick up stakes" wherever they are living and move into a town. Your "reputable sources" must have given you the name of the gang. You complain about PD "lack of transparency," why not let everyone know the gang name? I'm confident there is no harm to anyone by identifying the name of another gang in SB. Certainly a few members of a gang can move into SB at any time. But, how are they going to subsist as a high percentage of gang members don't have jobs? IMO gangs in SB consist mostly of (young) people wanting to make a name for themselves with what are mostly neighborhood gangs. It has been this way for years, only the names have changed. I don't recall hearing of too many older people involved in SB gang activity. I'd appreciate it if you would contact your sources and ask the average age of a SB gang member. Thanks.

You’re spreading fake news

AWARE - you talking about MS-13?

AWARE - No disrespect to anyone at Noozhawk but I wouldn't hang too much weight on what you report as "the editorial about this [Noozhawk] issue." "The opinions expressed are his own." The writer's opinion is just that, an opinion. No better no worse than those we express here. I'm a little confused. But, it would help to learn what CA Criminal Code he refers to that applies to cops and also "we — the news media — have a right under the California Criminal Code to report some of that information to you. And you have a right to know it." Of course news sources have a right to report information, but, correct me if I'm wrong, the cops aren't obligated to release any information. IMO he's on a round about way back to square one. He want's police information about an incident and they're not giving it to him. Myself, I don't care how long the cops withhold case information. I trust they know what could compromise their case and let it go. If the Noozhawk writer is right about the law he refers to, he should sue the PD for the information. Also, IMO too much drama in his headline.

Are the gangsters easily identified on the street? The Milpas area near TJs does not feel safe. I've walked down that street and there were small groups of men standing on every block.

Agreed! The more guns on the streets and shootings between gangs the more likely that more innocent people will be hurt and killed. It is par for the course unless something major is done to stop it, like beefing up our police presence and making it less EASY to do this type of thing around town. Westside and Eastside gang stuff is not new but the use of guns and innocent people being KILLED by then IS new. The escalation in this type of activity is alarming. How safe can we really feel taking our kids downtown, on walks around the neighborhood, to the pier, etc. right now?

GIMLI - while it IS getting more violent here, largely due to cartel-run gangs like MS-13 (which is what AWAREHUMAN seems to be referring to), we do have something that Mexico does not - a more reliable and not as corrupt police force. As much as we all complain about them, I trust our law enforcement to help protect us from becoming a lawless frontier town.

GIMLLI, "just like Sinaloa", etc.

Dude that is literally one of the dumbest things anyone has ever said on this board, and that's saying something.

SBDUDE - Had lunch with a friend with memory like the proverbial elephant and brought up this gang topic. They talked about a couple of old gangs that were in SB more or less around the 60's and 70's. They were known as the Mexican Mafia (eMe) and the Nuestra Familia. These gangs are still running strong in the state prisons but hasn't heard heard much about them in town. While they were part of a large statewide organization, for the most part local members were drug dealers and users. It's not believed these groups challenged each other much. Likely, back then any significant uptick in violent crimes cops would have pushed down harder on both groups. It was believed there was a "street general" of one of these two groups living in SB for some time. It's believed the average age of these members was between 20 & 40.

"Pro weed politics?" Oh come on now.... how many gang related crimes have been due to legalized weed?

SEABIRD - where does it say this was a gang related shooting? Even if it is, what do you expect the PD to do? Detain large groups of juveniles whenever someone thinks they saw a gun being flashed? Sounds like they caught some of them, but still, they can't just keep them in custody without a crime being committed.

It's the police statements that these are always isolated incidents - if they are even reported. And that's a big If.

Seems like isolated here means there's no ongoing threat to the public (ie, active shooter). I still don't see where it says this is gang-related as you assume.

Could be or not. I do know for a fact that the Eastside Travs gang just tagged this WS neighborhood this past weekend, and a day later crossed out by the WS gang just right before this happened. Tonight in this block big police activity. News tomorrow? Isolated incident may mean that he shot himself or it was a known person

What makes it "isolated"? My thoughts too were that he shot himself but honestly, in the stomach, that's a weird spot to shoot yourself... more details from our local police force would be the best thing to prevent us all from speculating, wondering, and worrying about the bigger picture that may or may not exist. Until our LE become more open they are creating a lot of stress for a lot of TAX paying, Law abiding citizens.

BENICEE - explain how it's "obviously gang related?" Please cite the facts that support your conclusion. Was it the location? Was it that it was a man? Was it that it was a gun? Tell us what you know.

Come on Sac, you have the ability to provide solid input but then you go out there and just start fights with people and you lose your relevance.

SBSAND - "starting fights?" I'm simply asking what facts in the article lead to the conclusion that it's "obviously gang related?" Care to answer?

I'm in no way disputing we have a gang problem, just asking people here (including you) to think a little harder. Try it.

If this happened in San Roque, would it be "obviously gang related?"

Being racist is easy and lazy. Challenge yourself.

Late at night shooting involving a male victim who didn't call 911 for help, left a trail of blood (i.e. he was leaving the area) and no mention of robbery. Now you explain why Benicee is racists and lazy!

8pm is not "late," major injuries might have played a role in his inability to call 911, trail of blood to try and get help/reach a phone, and so what if there was no robbery? Non-gang members carry guns and have disputes all the time. Maybe it was self-inflicted.

"Daily".

Do you not know what a "day" is?

So we have 365 shootings a year in SB? Wow, who knew?

"1) shot himself by accident - No
2) girlfriend shot him and told him to get out of the house - Probably not"

How do you know? And really? There's only 3 possible scenarios? Man..... once again, I overestimate the intelligence level of the masses.

Exactly ‘67, and others. Sac, you like to argue but you’re losing hard. I don’t think there’s anything to argue about. Let it go for once.

How do you figure, BASIC? Are there some actual facts suggesting this was "obviously gang related?" Where?