Shooting leaves one man dead, two officers injured
One man is dead and two Ventura police officers are at the hospital after an eviction turned deadly.
Witness told NewsChannel 3 they heard yelling and then about a dozen shots were fired in the parking lot of the Motel 6 on the 2100 block of Harbor Boulevard.
“Gunshots and when the first three went off, I told my girlfriend to get on the ground,” said Scotty, a neighbor who lives across the street from the Motel 6.
Residents of the Pierpont neighborhood were shocked to hear gunfire around 7 p.m. Thursday.
Scotty told NewsChannel 3 he ran across the street to the parking lot of the Motel 6 to find out what happened.
“I saw two, I believe two female officers, still with their weapons drawn at a small pickup truck,” described Scotty.
Other neighbors said they heard 10 to 12 shots and moments later the motel parking lot was filled with officers.
“Pretty surprising that something like this would happen in this kind of a neighborhood,” said Johnny Jimenez, a Ventura resident.
It started when the clerk at the motel called the police to help evict a resident.
“During that eviction process, we’re not quite sure what happened but a struggle ensued. The gentleman that was being evicted made it to his vehicle and was able to run over the two officers with his vehicle,” said Commander Darin Schindler, Ventura Police Department.
Other motel guests were questioning what to do after the shooting.
“My niece here is staying here and I’m not sure if it’s safe for her to even stay here,” said one woman.
The two officers suffered non-life threatening injuries. One officer was released from the hospital overnight. The other officer remains under hospital observation as a result of injuries sustained.
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