Oxnard Police Fatally Wound Man After Chase : Investigation: The officers shoot a 35-year-old construction worker when he allegedly points a gun at them.

Oxnard police shot and killed a 35-year-old construction worker who pointed a gun at them after leading officers on a chase from southeast Oxnard to Camarillo, authorities said Saturday.

Nicholas Partee of Oxnard was shot several times by Oxnard officers who approached his car after the chase ended on Oak Street near Ventura Boulevard about 10 p.m. Friday. Partee was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:50 p.m., Deputy Coroner Mitch Breese said.

Before the shooting, Oxnard police had been called to a house in the 2000 block of Curran Street where Partee’s estranged wife, Lisa, and two children live. Lisa Partee had called police when her husband arrived at the house, violating a restraining order she had obtained against him, relatives and authorities said.

At the house, Partee picked up a set of car keys and left in a red Ford Festiva that was parked at the house. When police arrived, Partee was gone, but they found him a short time later at a 7-Eleven convenience store on Pleasant Valley Road, one street away from the family’s house.

When police approached Partee, he fled, authorities said. Four Oxnard patrol cars joined in the chase down Pleasant Valley Road, which bisects farm fields and leads to Camarillo. California Highway Patrol officers were preparing to join the chase when it ended, a CHP spokesman said.

Authorities would not say why the chase ended there or whether Partee fired his gun at the officers approaching his car.

The Oxnard officers involved in the shooting were Terry Burr, 32, an officer for nine years; Chris Orsini, 27, an officer for 1 1/2 years; Roger Sonsini, 40, an officer for 13 years, and James Stallings, 30, an officer for three years. All have been placed on paid administrative leave, said Oxnard police spokesman David Keith.

Detectives with the Ventura County Sheriff Department’s major crimes unit are investigating the shooting, but none of them could be reached for comment Saturday.

“They’re just simply not available on the weekend, not till Monday,” said Sheriff’s Sgt. Jim Wilburn.

Partee’s relatives Saturday said they had been told little by police and were still trying to piece together what had happened.

“Everybody’s just so confused,” said Nicholas Partee’s sister, Sandy Brunner of Ojai. “We’re not ever going to get answers to questions we have. Who knows why?”

Family members said Partee had been despondent in recent months over a lack of construction work and marital difficulties. He had moved out of the house on Curran Street about six weeks ago, and had been living with relatives and friends, Brunner said.

“Lack of work, losing self-esteem, it just apparently got the best of him,” she said. “I don’t think any of us knew where his head was.”

Lisa Partee told family members that Nicholas appeared upset when he stopped by the house to pick up the car, said his brother, Russ. “Evidently he was distraught over something we’re not real sure of,” he said.

Russ Partee described his 5-foot, 10-inch, 185-pound brother as “very stern and strong,” and said he could be physically intimidating.

Residents of Oak Street, where Partee was killed, said they were alarmed Friday night by the noise of police sirens and the sounds of rapid gunfire. They reported hearing three to 10 shots fired.

“I heard the sirens and I couldn’t imagine what was going on,” said Margaret Novak, 80. “I was in bed laying down when I saw the flickering of the police cars.”

When Novak walked outside, she said, she was told by a police officer that there had been an exchange of gunfire.

Another Oak Street resident, 21-year-old Vance Schafer, said he turned off all the lights in his house after the gunfire. When he peered out his front window, he saw the red car sitting in the street with its right rear wheel on a curb.

Eddie Lin, 62, who manages a motel next to where the shooting occurred, said he was awakened by the sound of the sirens, followed by a crash and then gunshots. Within minutes, police cars were lined up in front of the Candle Lite Motel on Ventura Boulevard, and a section of Oak Street had been taped off.