VENTURA : Stranger Shoots, Wounds Pedestrian

A 35-year-old Ventura man was in stable condition Friday after a stranger jumped out of a car and shot him after midnight in Ventura, authorities said.

Stanley Louis Speer and his brother, William David Speer, 33, were walking near the intersection of North Olive Street and West Harrison Avenue on Friday when an unfamiliar car pulled up beside them, said Officer Bonnie Lucking of the Ventura Police Department.

The brothers were on their way to a phone booth because Stanley Speer’s house in the 300 block of North Olive Street had no phone, said Det. Douglas Auldridge of the Ventura Police Department.

A car pulled alongside them and a man asked the brothers where they lived. They replied “Ventura,” Lucking said. The man got out of the car and began shooting at the brothers with a handgun, Lucking said.

Stanley Speer was shot twice and fell in the street, Lucking said. William David Speer began running when the gunman aimed at him and was not hurt, Lucking said.

The gunman’s car raced from the scene before police arrived, Lucking said.

Stanley Speer was taken by ambulance to Ventura County Medical Center in Ventura, where he was rushed into emergency surgery, Lucking said. He was listed in stable condition late Friday, Lucking said.

The gunman may have belonged to a gang, Auldridge said.