Oct. 15--Two men were dead after a shootout Saturday night that involved Oxnard police, officials said.
The Ventura County Sheriff's Office is conducting an investigation into the shootout that erupted as two men fled officers after a traffic stop, authorities said. One of the dead men was not involved in the traffic stop, authorities said.
Officials said the incident began just after 10:10 p.m. Saturday, when a vehicle failed to stop for police before pulling over near Second Street and Grant Avenue.
Three men in the vehicle refused to comply with officers' instructions for about 10 minutes, according to the Oxnard Police Department. Officers said one of the men was talking on a cellphone and that another was simulating a weapon in his hands.
While the men continued to be uncooperative, dispatchers told the officers that a resident nearby had reported that the men in the vehicle possibly had displayed a handgun, authorities said.
Sheriff's Capt. Don Aguilar said police will change their response to a situation as they receive more information, as in the case of a person who possibly has a weapon.
"Your approach to what's going on in that immediate area is heightened," Aguilar said.
Soon after officers received the report from dispatchers, the vehicle took off and the driver evaded police, authorities said. A brief chase lasted until the vehicle stopped a few blocks away, in the 100 block of North Garfield Avenue, authorities said.
There was no report of a crash, and the vehicle stopped somewhere on the street, Aguilar said.
Two men got out of the vehicle and ran from officers, according to a preliminary investigation. The other man in the vehicle surrendered to police, Aguilar said.
As the officers were chasing the two men, they began shooting at police, officials said.
Some officers returned fire in what police described as a chaotic scene in which several people were running in the area.
Of the two men who fled police, one was killed and one suffered injuries that were not life-threatening and was taken to a hospital, officials said. The injured man may face criminal charges, Aguilar said.
Another man, who was not in the vehicle during the initial traffic stop, suffered fatal gunshot wounds. Investigators were still trying to determine whether there was any relationship between him and the three men involved in the traffic stop, Aguilar said.
The man who was arrested at the scene had not been booked into jail as of 6:30 p.m. Sunday, according to sheriff's Capt. Jerry Hernandez. The man's identity and charges will be available at the time of booking, Aguilar said.
No officers were injured during the shooting, authorities said.
Sorting through the preliminary investigation could take days, Aguilar said, followed by weeks of review.
The crime scene was under investigation Sunday afternoon.
"Investigators are still talking to everyone," Aguilar said.
Cooper Road, from Grant to Roosevelt Boulevard, was closed at 3:40 p.m. Sunday. A stretch of Garfield also was shut down in both directions. About an hour later, investigators left the scene, Hernandez said.
Oxnard police Sgt. Brian Woolley said officers will increase their visibility in the area.
"We're probably going to be in that area more to make sure that area is safe," Woolley said.
The identities of the two people killed were not released Sunday as an investigator from the Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office was still notifying family members.
The Sheriff's Office is conducting the investigation, along with the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, which is standard in officer-involved shootings.
Oxnard police also are conducting an administrative investigation.
The fatal shootings are the 10th and 11th homicides of the year in Oxnard.
Two men were found dead of gunshot wounds in an alley Sept. 29. Steven Cerrillo, 54, of Oxnard, and Carlos Gonzalez, 28, of Port Hueneme, were pronounced dead in the 300 block of Cuesta Del Mar.
Michael Mahoney, 36, of Oxnard, was fatally shot by Oxnard police Aug. 14. Officials said he waved a gun at officers in a threatening manner. Family and neighbors said police had been to Mahoney's house several times that month after he made suicidal threats.
Copyright 2012 - Ventura County Star, Calif.
