Full Notification

At approximately 3:15 p.m. on Wednesday, August 27, 2014, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s deputies assigned to the Isla Vista Foot Patrol responded to a report of a suicidal subject with a firearm inside an apartment in the 700 block of Camino Del Sur. The reporting party identified the subject as 20-year-old Joshua Hillsburg, a UCSB student, and relayed that he had a gun and wanted to kill himself.

Sheriff’s deputies responded to the apartment, secured a perimeter and attempted to make contact with Hillsburg. After a short amount of time, Hillsburg came to the front door and when he saw deputies he attempted to retreat into a back bedroom.  Sheriff’s deputies were able to swiftly prevent Hillsburg from reaching the bedroom and detained him for safety reasons.

Although a records check for firearms yielded negative results for Hillsburg, deputies were able to obtain information that there was a handgun in the back bedroom. A loaded .357 revolver was later recovered under a pillow in the bedroom and seized pursuant to section 8102 of the Welfare and Institutions code.  The firearm was later found to be legally registered to a family member.

While deputies were inside the residence, they saw multiple sets of brass knuckles in plain view.  Hillsburg was arrested for possession of the knuckles.  He was booked into the Santa Barbara County Jail with bail set at $20,000.

The Isla Vista Foot Patrol is comprised of deputies from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office (SBSO) and officers from the University of California Police Department (UCPD). The Isla Vista Foot Patrol commends the reporting party in this case for calling 9-1-1 to report the subject’s erratic behavior which ultimately could have saved his life.