The body of a homeless man was found Friday in Pershing Park, below East Campus by the baseball field.

He was found on the lawn between the gazebo and the bathroom at 4 p.m. Friday afternoon. His full name and age haven’t been released, but he went by the name of “Shopping Cart Ray,” and he was in his sixties, according to Jennifer Ferraez, a social worker for the County Mental Health Department.

Farraez said she knew Ray, and that he had various medical conditions, including poor lung health, but the cause of death hasn’t been determined.

She described Ray as a “gentle man,” and “pretty quiet.”

Ray’s friends Shaky and Gator were in the park when he died.

They both said that Ray was a Vietnam veteran, and had been living somewhere in the harbor. He would occasionally go to the park for a daytime nap because he felt safe there. He would spend most of his time reading.

“He would smoke like a train, and just sit there and read,” said Shaky.

Shaky said the he knew Ray had been in Santa Barbara for at least ten years.

Pershing Park has a long history with the homeless, and a large group live in and around the park, said Eric Fricke, head of campus security.

Fricke said that campus security has to deal with situations involving Pershing’s homeless on a regular basis, even though the park isn’t school property. City College only has control of the baseball field and the bathrooms during games or practice, but it’s also a major access point for students entering the East Campus.

For the most part, the homeless are friendly, cooperative, and are not a risk to students. But different situations do come up.

There have been numerous incidents of aggressive or foul language, public drunkenness, and sanitation problems. Security always responds to the calls, said Fricke.

“We have a responsibility to make sure that where our students access is a safe environment,” Fricke said.

However, making them go away doesn’t solve anything, Fricke said. When they’re moved out of the park they show up somewhere else until they are forced from there, eventually finding their way back to Pershing.

The police usually take action after many calls because they don’t have the resources to deal with all of the homeless in all locations, all of the time, he said.

“It’s a constant rotation,” said Fricke.

On the night of Ray’s death police woke up a group of around twenty people sleeping next to the bathroom at Pershing, sending most away and writing numerous tickets.

Earlier in the day, as police were removing Ray’s body, his friends were gathered in groups around the park, crying and sharing memories of their close friend.

Gator sat in the grass looking through tears at a picture of Ray, smiling and pushing his shopping cart with an American flag sticking out of the top.

“He was a good guy, and I’m gonna miss him a lot,” he said.