2 Men Undergo Surgery After Being Shot

Two men were in surgery late Thursday after being shot outside an Oxnard apartment complex earlier in the day, officials said.

Jerilance Perkins, 22, and Lamar Jackson, 22, both of Oxnard, were shot shortly after 4 p.m. near the intersection of Samuel and La Canada avenues, police said.

No arrest had been made by late Thursday, according to Oxnard police, who declined to speculate on a motive in the shootings.

John Jessa, assistant manager of the complex, said he was watching television in his apartment when he heard several shots. Shortly after that, he said, Jackson came to his door and asked for help.

“I told him to come in my apartment and lay down on the floor,” Jessa said. “He took his shirt off and he had a hole in his gut.”

Celia Ruiz, who works at an ice cream parlor across the street on Saviers Road, said she was outside the store when the shooting occurred.

“I just heard pop , pop ,” she said. “It was like a firecracker. Since I didn’t have my glasses on, I couldn’t really see much. But I saw people running and I thought, ‘Oh my God, I think somebody got shot.’ ”

Jessa’s ex-wife, Laieloni, said she and their three children were in the ice cream parlor when Perkins walked in holding his side.

“When he told me he was shot, I said, ‘No,’ ” she said. “Then he showed me his two gunshot wounds. And I told him to lay down until the police got there.”

Perkins was shot twice, once in the back and once in the side, and Jackson was shot once in the abdomen, police said.

Both were in surgery Thursday evening at St. John’s Regional Medical Center.

John Jessa said he saw two men jump in a car parked in an alley behind the apartment complex and speed off immediately after the shooting. Police said the two men, who were not caught, are suspects in the shooting.