OXNARD : Deputy Shot in Leg; No Suspect Arrested

A senior deputy from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department was in fair condition Thursday after being shot in the leg while investigating a knifing in the Santa Clara River bed near Wagon Wheel Road in Oxnard, authorities said.

Senior Deputy Daryl Dunn, 32, was taken to St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard after he was shot once in the right thigh, hospital spokeswoman Shelly Tharp said.

The bullet, which may have ricocheted off a nearby rock, bruised Dunn but did not pierce his skin, Sheriff’s Lt. Joe Harwell said.

More than 30 officers and three canine units from the Oxnard, Port Hueneme and Ventura police departments and the Sheriff’s Department were called to the scene after the 7:50 p.m. shooting Wednesday.

Eight people were questioned about the shooting during a two-hour search of the riverbed area, a popular camping spot for transients, but no arrests were made, Harwell said.

Dunn, who was investigating an assault that occurred Sunday, fell to the ground after the shot rang out and returned fire, but apparently missed, Harwell said.

Dunn had gone to the riverbed to take photographs of the spot where a 49-year-old homeless man was attacked Sunday night during a dispute over the ownership of a camp stove, Harwell said.

“There is no relationship between these cases except that they both occurred in the same place,” Harwell said.

Harwell said deputies are still searching for the gunman, who is thought to be about six feet tall with a medium build and shoulder-length brown hair.