Officer Shoots Man Who Police Say Had Gun : La Colonia: The 60-year-old is in critical condition. Relatives say he was drinking at home but was not armed when he went outside.

A 60-year-old Oxnard man standing in the bushes outside his La Colonia house was shot three times after aiming a gun at a police officer, Oxnard police said Friday.

Police shot Ubertino O. Ayala in the arm, chest and leg as a horrified family member watched. Although police say they recovered a gun at the scene, Ayala’s family contends that he was unarmed.

Ayala was reported in critical condition at St. John’s Regional Medical Center on Friday evening after surgery, a nursing supervisor said.

According to a statement by the Oxnard Police Department, the shooting is being investigated by the department and by the Ventura County district attorney’s office.

Sgt. John Crombach, who was on duty Thursday night, said five police officers responded after receiving a report on the 911 emergency line about 9:45 p.m. from an unidentified woman about a man with a weapon.

When police arrived at Ayala’s house in the 100 block of Featherstone Street, Ayala pulled a gun from his waistband and pointed it at Officer Ken Dellinger, police said. Dellinger warned Ayala in English, “Police! Drop the gun!” but Ayala walked toward the officer, police said. Dellinger then fired his weapon at Ayala.

Police refused to elaborate further on the statement and deferred all other questions to the investigating officials, who were not available Friday. Crombach said investigators may examine the tape of the 911 call.

According to family members, Ayala, who was slightly drunk after a Thanksgiving Day celebration with his family, retreated to a corner of his front yard to urinate behind a bush when he was surprised by the officer.

Ayala, who speaks only Spanish, could not have understood the officer, said Ramon Ayala, Ubertino Ayala’s 30-year-old son.

“He doesn’t speak a word of English,” he said.

It was the second time in two months that Oxnard police have been involved in a shooting in the mostly Spanish-speaking La Colonia neighborhood. On Oct. 6, Oxnard police officers shot and killed a man who had reportedly made threats against a family.

Heliodoro Rodriguez Montero, 47, was shot by officers after he pointed a gun at police at least three times, police said. Three officers, who were placed on leave while the shooting was investigated, have been cleared and have returned to duty, Crombach said.

Police officials also placed Dellinger on administrative leave.

Crombach described the 50-year-old Dellinger as a veteran officer “with a broad base of experience,” including nearly 20 years on the Oxnard force.

“If Officer Dellinger fired that weapon in self-defense, he certainly felt like he was being threatened,” Crombach said. He acknowledged that communication “is an inherent problem where you’re dealing with an ethnic group with language barriers.”

The shooting triggered an angry response from other family members and several neighbors who said they knew Ayala as a quiet man who had never had problems with police.

Ayala’s wife, Alicia, said her husband had been drinking and was still slightly drunk at the time of the shooting. She and her daughter, Celia Zavala, denied contacting police.

One family member who saw the shooting said police also threatened to shoot him, even though he was unarmed.

Carlos Zavala, Ayala’s son-in-law, said he was at Ayala’s house to seek advice regarding a recent marital separation with Ayala’s daughter. He said they had been talking outside when Ayala excused himself to go to the bathroom and began walking behind a large bush.

Ayala had just rounded a corner of the house when a police officer appeared on the other side of a wire fence and began to fire, Zavala said.

Zavala, who said he did not hear any warnings by the officer, said he was frightened by the gunfire and ran to hide, but the same police officer who shot Ayala approached him and yelled at Zavala to disarm himself. During the whole incident, Ayala had nothing in his hands, he said.

“I’m sure he didn’t have a pistol in his hands,” said Zavala, 30. “They were about to shoot at me because I had my hand hidden in my shirt.” Zavala said he was unarmed, but his injured right wrist is wrapped in a bulky brace.

On Friday, about 15 family members gathered outside Ayala’s hospital room where he lay unconscious after undergoing six hours of surgery. Some sat in a nearby waiting room, saying the shooting was unjust.

Jose Ayala, 40, said his father was employed at a mushroom farm and had lived in California for decades. He said family members are considering legal action against the Oxnard Police Department.

“We didn’t know a thing like this could happen,” Jose Ayala said. “We don’t even know why the police were there.”

Jose Villasenor, 67, Ayala’s next-door neighbor, said he was watching television when he heard four or five shots outside. When he stepped out to see what was going on, he found the neighborhood ringed with police officers.

Villasenor, who has lived next to Ayala for 16 years, said he was surprised that his next-door neighbor had been shot.

“He’s a quiet guy. The police have never been to his house,” Villasenor said. “He’s never bothered anyone.”