Oxnard Police Release "Citical Incident" Video Of April 7th Fatal Officer Involved Shooting
Monday April 17, 2023
WARNING THE VIDEO IS DIFFICULT TO WATCH
(The top photo is from a ring camera showing Torrez as he moves towards the officers. The knife, which is also shown in the bottom photo, can be seen in the top photo in Torrez's left hand pointing toward the letter "P" in "Police" on the patrol car)
Update on Monday, April 17, 2023--Oxnard police released what they call a "Critical Incident" briefing video of the April 7th fatal officer involved shooting that includes video from a ring camera and also from the body worn cameras of the officers involved. It also contains information from Chief Jason Benites) here is the link to that video:
Original story--Oxnard police have released more details about the fatal April 7th officer involved shooting.
They say that around 6 PM Friday, April 7th, officers responded to a report of a man with a knife threatening residents in the 2000 block of East Bard Road.
Police say the suspect was 18-year-old Christian Baltazar Torrez of Oxnard.
One of the 9-1-1 callers said that Torrez had chased her husband with a knife.
Police say that Sergeant Todd Johnson, and Officers Jarrod Sheffield, Dan Casse, Randi Vines, and Kyle Hay were the officers on scene.
They found Torrez in a pickup that did not belong to him and he at first refused their repeated commands to come out.
When he did come out, police say Torrez was armed with a knife and he walked towards the officers, ignoring their commands to drop the knife.
Sergeant Johnson deployed a Taser and while it made contact, they say it had minimal affect and Torrez continued to advance.
Another officer fired a less-lethal shotgun "bean bag" round that brought Torrez down but they say he got back up and was now in close proximity to the officers and still armed with the knife.
Police say that's when Officer Sheffield fired his service handgun and Torrez went down.
Emergency life-saving efforts were started immediately and Torrez was taken to VCMC where he died.
Oxnard police say Sergeant Johnson has been with the department since January of 2003, Officer Casse since January of 2002, Officer Vines since April of 2017, Officer Sheffield since April of 2021, and Officer Hay since July of 2021.
All of the officers are assigned to the department's patrol division and none of them have ever been involved in a prior fatal shooting incident.
