Officer Involved Shooting – Supplemental News Release 04132023

NEWS RELEASE

DATE:           April 13, 2023

SUBJECT:    Oxnard Police release name of person shot by police, names of involved officers, and additional information

LOCATION: 2000 block of East Bard Road, Oxnard

CONTACT:  Alex Arnett, Commander

                        (805) 385-7620 (Mon-Thu 7AM-5PM) | alex.arnett@oxnardpd.org (after hours)

This supplemental news release will provide information concerning those persons involved in an officer-involved shooting incident that occurred shortly after 6 P.M. on Friday, April 7, 2023.  The incident occurred in the 2000 block of East Bard Road in the City of Oxnard.

On Friday, April 7, 2023, at approximately 6:00 P.M., the Oxnard Police Department’s Emergency Communications Center received 9-1-1 calls from residents in the 2000 block of East Bard Road.  The callers reported that a man with a knife was threatening residents. One caller stated that the male had chased her husband with a knife.

The deceased subject from the incident has been identified as eighteen year-old Oxnard resident Christian Baltazar Torrez. 

Sergeant Todd Johnson, and Officers Jarrod Sheffield, Dan Casse, Randi Vines, and Kyle Hay were the Oxnard Police Department personnel that responded to the call.  Officer Sheffield was the one officer that discharged a firearm.

The involved officers' tenure is listed as follows:

●       Sergeant Todd Johnson has been employed by the Oxnard Police Department since January 2003.

●       Officer Dan Casse has been employed by the Oxnard Police Department since January 2002.

●       Officer Randi Vines has been employed by the Oxnard Police Department since April 2017.

●       Officer Jarrod Sheffield has been employed by the Oxnard Police Department since April 2021.

●      Officer Kyle Hay has been an Oxnard police officer since July 2021. Prior to becoming an Oxnard police officer, he was a deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for almost three years.

All of the involved officers are assigned to the Oxnard Police Department’s Patrol Division. None of the involved officers have previously been involved in a fatal shooting incident.

At the time of this news release, Officer Sheffield is on paid administrative leave.  This is standard procedure for officers that are involved in incidents such as this, and a date of his return to work is being developed.  The remaining officers are currently in service in their respective assignments.

Per Oxnard Police Chief Jason Benites, the department now plans to release a critical incident community briefing video to the public during the week of April 17, 2023.  The video will provide an overview of the incident, as well as show the involved officers’ body-worn camera videos at the time of the shooting. 

Detectives are requesting that anyone who might have witnessed the incident or has additional information to contact Detective Chip Buttell at (805) 385-7688 or charles.buttell@oxnardpd.org.

NEWS RELEASE

DATE:           Friday, April 7, 2023

SUBJECT:    Man brandishing knife at residents leads to officer involved shooting

LOCATION: 2000 block of East Bard Road, Oxnard

SUSPECT:    18-year old Hispanic male, Oxnard resident, name withheld

CONTACT:  Alex Arnett, Commander

                        (805) 385-7620 (Mon-Thu 8AM-6PM) | alex.arnett@oxnardpd.org (after hours)

At approximately 6:00 P.M. on April 7, 2023, residents in the 2000 block of East Bard Road called the Oxnard Police Department’s Emergency Communications Center to report that a person was brandishing and threatening residents with a knife. Oxnard Police Officers responded to the location to investigate.

When officers arrived on scene, they located the suspect, an 18-year old Hispanic male inside a green truck. The truck belonged to a resident, who had not given the suspect permission to enter his vehicle. The officers gave the suspect several commands to exit the truck, and he did not readily comply.

After approximately five minutes, the suspect exited the truck, and began walking towards the officers. The officers saw that the suspect was holding a knife in his left hand. The suspect walked in the direction of the officers as the officers commanded the suspect to drop the knife.

There were four police officers and a patrol sergeant at the scene of this incident. Three of the officers drew their handguns, one officer had a “less lethal” shotgun, and the patrol sergeant drew their taser.

As the suspect continued to walk in the direction of the officers, the sergeant deployed their taser. The taser probes contacted the suspect but had minimal effect; the suspect was able to continue moving towards the officers. The officer with the less lethal shotgun fired one “bean bag” round at the suspect, which caused the suspect to fall to the ground.  The suspect quickly got back on his feet, knife in hand, in close proximity to officers, when one police officer fired their Department-issued handgun at the suspect. The suspect fell to the ground after being shot.

The officers called for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and provided life saving efforts, including CPR, until EMS personnel arrived on scene. An ambulance transported the suspect to the Ventura County Medical Center, and he was pronounced deceased at approximately 7:00 P.M.

The victims who reported the initial brandishing of a knife by the suspect were interviewed by officers and detectives, and provided detailed statements.

The police officers' body-worn cameras captured the entire incident. The Oxnard Police Department will share this footage in a Community Critical Incident Debriefing video next week.

In accordance with standard protocol for officer-involved shootings, the involved officers have been placed on administrative leave as the investigation progresses.

The Oxnard Police Department’s Major Crimes Unit, in conjunction with the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office, is investigating the incident. Detectives are requesting that anyone who might have witnessed the incident, or has additional information to contact Detective Chip Buttell at (805) 385-7688 or charles.buttell@oxnardpd.org.