Santa Barbara

2 Arrested, 2 Students Hurt in Isla Vista Shooting, Assault

Four people, including two students and two alleged gunman, were in the hospital Tuesday after a shooting and assault in Isla Vista near the UC Santa Barbara campus one night earlier, nearly a year after a deadly rampage rocked the seaside community.

Gunfire was reported just before 7:30 p.m. Monday at a home in the 6500 block of Sabado Tarde Road (map), blocks from the campus, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office.

Investigators said 19-year-old Jose Guadalupe Gutierrez, of Goleta, and 22-year-old James Joshua Taylor, of Lompoc, went to the residence of two UCSB students who knew Gutierrez.

Authorities said an altercation or fight occurred inside the home, and officers who came to the home were responding to a "domestic disturbance."

The students, men in their early 20s, were hurt by gunfire, including one with a gunshot wound to his abdomen, and the other with a gunshot wound in his chest, authorities said.

Both students were taken to the hospital and are expected to survive. 

After the altercation, residents in the area held Taylor until authorities arrived and took him to the hospital, where he was treated for head wounds, officials said.

Deputies said Gutierrez fled the scene in a white sedan and was being sought by law enforcement overnight.

But Tuesday morning, deputies said Gutierrez checked himself into the hospital with injuries he said he got during a car crash on the UCSB campus.

The sheriff's department said investigators believe his injuries may be from Monday night's altercation.

UCSB had asked students to shelter in place Monday night until a lockdown was lifted about 9:30 p.m.

Both Taylor and Gutierrez were arrested and will be booked after they can be released from the hospital, officials said. Neither of them are students, and it was not clear whether they had lawyers.

Taylor is being accused of attempted murder, robbery, discharge of a firearm in the commission of a felony causing great bodily injury, and participation in a criminal street gang.

Gutierrez is being accused of attempted murder, robbery, possession of a stolen firearm, discharge of a firearm in the commission of a felony causing great bodily injury, and participating in a criminal street gang, officials said.

"We had a string of armed robberies last week in Isla Vista, several of them occurred in the same apartment complex and then one occurred randomly in the street," said Santa Barbara County sheriff's spokeswoman Kelly Hoover. "That definitely had everyone concerned, and we're also heading into the anniversary of the Isla Vista mass murders, which everyone is already on edge thinking about the emotion of the loss that this community endured."

Monday's shooting comes nearly a year after Elliot Rodger killed three UC Santa Barbara students in the apartment he shared with two of them, before he began a rampage that left three other students dead and over a dozen hurt in Isla Vista on May 23, 2014.

The victims' families are suing the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department for negligence and violation of due process over several incidents, including when deputies didn't search Rodger's apartment during an April 30, 2014, wellness check after being flagged by a health worker about a series of disturbing videos he posted on YouTube.

On May 23, 2014, Rodger emailed his family and therapist his manifesto, and uploaded a video to YouTube titled "Elliot Rodger's Retribution" that outlined his attack plan.

Rodger then stabbed to death his two roommates and their friend, then opened fire on the busy college town of Isla Vista where he killed three more students and himself.

Students and others immediately took to Twitter expression their frustrations about a second reported shooting in the area in less than a year.

"So saddened to hear about another shooting at my alma mater almost a year after last year's disaster. Stay safe UCSB," tweeted @whatthekey.

Cynthia Ayon ‏wrote: "Makes me sick to my stomach that there's another shooting around this time ..."

Twitter user @iravery15 wrote: "Everyone keep UC Santa Barbara students in your thoughts. There has been another shooting & my sister is up there right now."

NBC4's Jason Kandel, Beverly White and Annette Arreola contributed to this report.

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