One person was airlifted to a Santa Barbara hospital Monday night after being wounded in a shooting in Santa Maria.
At about 7:15 p.m., personnel from the Santa Maria Police and Fire departments, along with an American Medical Response ambulance crew, were dispatched to the shooting on the 1000 block of South Russell Avenue.
That report came in minutes after officers were dispatched to reports regarding shots being fired in a parking lot, in the 1800 block of North Broadway.
Officers located several witnesses who provided information on the shooting and found evidence confirming that a shooting occurred. However, officers did not locate a victim or a suspect at the time.
As officers investigated the incident, dispatchers received a report about a shooting victim on South Russell.
“As the investigation continued, information was gathered which led officers to believe the gunshot victim was related to the shooting investigation in the 1800 block of N. Broadway,” police said.
An 18-year-old victim with serious injuries was being taken to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital by Calstar medical helicopter, authorities said. He had several gunshot wounds, police said.
Detectives responded to both locations to investigate the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
Members of the Detective Bureau asked that any witnesses to the shooting call 805.928.3781, ext. 2277.
Additional details were not immediately available.
Check back with Noozhawk for updates to this story.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.