A 35-year-old woman who was shot at a house in an Orcutt neighborhood Friday afternoon was taken by medical helicopter to a Santa Barbara hospital.
The incident occurred shortly after noon at a residence on the 200 block of Mountain View Drive, according to Cmdr. Craig Bonner of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.
The woman, whose name was not released, was found in the front yard of the single-family home, having suffered at least one gunshot wound, Bonner said.
Neighbors, including an off-duty paramedic, provided aid to the injured woman until emergency personnel arrived.
She was transported by AMR ambulance to the Calstar headquarters at the Santa Maria Public Airport, then was airlifted to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.
Details on her condition were not available, but Hoover said she was expected to survive.
A man was detained at gunpoint in the rear yard of the home, according to emergency radio traffic.
By Friday evening, officials remained mum on whether anyone had been arrested.
“At this point, we do have a person of interest who has been detained, but it’s still early in the investigation and no one has been arrested,” said Kelly Hoover, Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman.
The man was cooperative with detectives while being taken into custody, she added.
Detectives were still interviewing witnesses, she added.
“One thing’s that important to note is that we do not believe the public is in any danger,” she said. “We believe that everybody that was involved has been located, and there is no risk to public safety.”
A handgun reportedly was recovered in the back yard of the home.
Neighbors said a man and woman live at the home along with with an teenager and two children, all of whom reportedly were at the residence at the time of the shooting.
The previous afternoon, a neighbor heard the woman screaming, “He’s gonna to kill me. Someone call the cops. He’s trying to kill me,” a resident said Friday afternoon.
Minutes before Friday’s shooting, the couple reportedly was involved in a fight with sounds of glass breaking, items being thrown and shouting heard by a neighbor, who described the sounds as similar to a scene from a movie.
A gunshot echoed in the neighborhood before a child ran to a nearby residence shouting “Call 9-1-1. My mom’s been shot. Call 9-1-1.”
One of the younger children reportedly claimed the dad shot their mom, a neighbor said.
The young boy, who had blood on his arm, claimed he had punched his dad and accidentally collided with his mom who was bleeding.
The woman reportedly was conscious and communicating with emergency personnel.
Others said sheriff’s deputies had visited the residence in the past, but Hoover could not confirm whether there were any previous calls for service involving the residence.
In addition to patrol deputies and detectives, members of the Sheriff’s Department’s forensics unit were at the scene, along with prosecutors from the District Attorney’s Office.
Anyone with information regarding this case can contact the sheriff’s Criminal Investigations Division at 805.681.4150, or leave an anonymous tip by calling 805.681.4171. An anonymous tip may be sent by clicking here and filling out the form.
Noozhawk North County Editor Janene Scully reported from the scene.
— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
