VENTURA/EL RIO : Arrests Involve Guns at Schools

An Oxnard juvenile was arrested on suspicion of shooting into the air at Ventura High School, and three teen-agers were cited for allegedly having a gun at Rio Mesa High School in El Rio, investigators said Saturday.

The first incident occurred Wednesday afternoon when two Oxnard youths walked onto the Ventura High School campus and were confronted by about five Ventura teen-agers, Ventura police said. One of the Oxnard boys, age 15, pulled a .25-caliber handgun from his waistband and fired two shots into the air, police said.

The gunfire was not reported until Thursday, when the mother of one of the Ventura youths called police. The 15-year-old was arrested Friday on charges of assault, discharging a firearm negligently and possessing a firearm on school grounds. The handgun was seized, police said.

The second incident occurred Friday afternoon, when Rio Mesa officials alerted sheriff’s deputies to a possible gang fight and the presence of a student with a gun, investigators said. When deputies arrived, campus security officers had detained about eight students.

During the investigation, three of the youths were observed passing an object that turned out to be a loaded handgun, investigators said. The youths were charged with possessing a firearm on a school campus. Two of the suspects, both juveniles, were released to their parents. The third, 18-year-old Graziano Martinez of Oxnard, was booked into Ventura County Jail. He was released early Saturday after promising to appear in court.