Shotgun Blast Wounds Man During Fight With Youths

A Ventura man involved in a fight with a group of about 20 teen-agers on a west Ventura street was wounded Thursday night when another participant fired four shotgun blasts into the group, authorities said.

Arthur Bivens, 19, of Ventura was taken to Ventura County Medical Center, where he was treated for leg wounds and was listed in stable condition Thursday evening.

The suspect was still at large.

The shooting occurred at 5:46 p.m. as about 20 teen-agers scuffled in the 300 block of West Harrison Avenue near Westpark Recreation Center, Ventura Police Cpl. Dave Williams said.

“The group was involved in a big fight when a man came across the softball field and fired four rounds at the group,” Williams said. Williams said police did not know why the fight began. Participants were being questioned Thursday night.

“One round hit the victim, another hit a Chevy Blazer parked nearby, and the other two rounds we’re not sure about,” he said.

The gunman had left the fight to get the weapon from a nearby house, Sgt. Bob Anderson said.

Jim Hardy, an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer, was warming up for a softball game against other law enforcement officers when the fight--and the shooting--began.

“I couldn’t believe it was happening,” he said. “I thought, this can’t be real, but I knew it was real when he racked-off another round.”

Hardy and his teammates “hid right behind the brick water fountain. Our guns were in our cars.”

Sgt. Mike Shaw of the California Highway Patrol office in Ventura said he saw the gunman walk out to the middle of the softball field and start shooting.

“He just started cranking rounds,” he said. “After the fourth round, he just turned and jogged off the field.”