The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office responded to a shooting last night that occurred at the 6500 block of Del Playa Drive in Isla Vista, which left one man seriously injured.

Deputies were dispatched at approximately 10:53 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 18 and arrived to find the adult male victim shot in the upper torso, according to a press release from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office (SBSO). The victim was quickly transported to a local hospital, while deputies attempted to identify and locate the shooter.

UC Santa Barbara students received an emergency notification from UCSB Alerts on Feb. 19 at 12:10 a.m. The alert described the first suspect as a college-age Hispanic male wearing “a [do-rag], red top, and jeans” and the second suspect as a college-age African American adult wearing a “gold cross on a gold chain, red zip-up sweater over a white shirt.” The suspects left on foot on Del Playa in an unknown direction, according to the notification.

A university-wide “all-clear message” was sent at 12:24 a.m., stating that the situation was clear and advising students to “resume normal activity.” The message stated that students should remain clear of the 6500 block, unless residing there.

UC Santa Barbara issued a follow-up email to the emergency notification and the all-clear message at 9:44 a.m., stating that there is no present “ongoing threat to our community.”

“While information regarding the isolated incident is still limited, we wanted to share that it did not take place on campus and no UC Santa Barbara students were harmed,” the email stated.

The investigation of the shooting is ongoing. The status of the victim remains unclear, and the shooter remains outstanding.

SBSO encouraged anyone with information regarding the shooting to contact its deputies or call its tip line at (805) 681-4171 to provide anonymous information.

Correction [2/20/2022, 10:40 a.m.]: The article previously quoted the UCSB emergency notification’s description of a suspect as wearing a “dew rag.” That quote has been edited to reflect the correct spelling of the word.

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Nisha Malley
Nisha Malley (she/her/hers) is the County News Editor for the 2022-23 school year. Previously, Malley was an Assistant News Editor for the 2021-22 school year. She can be reached at news@dailynexus.com.