Suspect in custody following officer-involved shooting in Oxnard

A suspect is now in custody following an officer-involved shooting at a mobile home park in Oxnard Sunday night.

Oxnard police identified the suspect as 30-year-old Joel Tapia Junior.

Police said the officer was not shot but injured trying to apprehend Tapia near the 1300 block of N. Ventura Boulevard.

They called out the SWAT team and a Sheriff’s helicopter to find the suspect who appears to have been wounded by gunfire.

“Sometime during the struggle, the officer discharged his weapon, the suspect fled and we found him in one of the mobile homes in the park,” said Oxnard Police Assistant Chief, Jason Benites.

Sulema Sanchez lives in the Royal Duke mobile home park and describes Sunday’s scene as “chaotic”.

“It’s something that you just see in movies, you never think it would hit this close to home,” said Sanchez.

Officers evacuated some of the mobile homes and closed off a portion of the road.

Sanchez didn’t evacuate from her home, but she saw some of her neighbors leave the park.

“You didn’t know where to go because a lot of families that were closer to the area had to evacuate,” said Sanchez.

Oxnard detectives are working to investigate why the officer fired the gunshot.