Man in Rescue Cited as Hero by Supervisors

Ray Gonzales was not comfortable with being called a hero when the Ventura County Board of Supervisors honored him Tuesday for rescuing Irma Lopez as she lay wounded outside an Oxnard unemployment office three months ago.

“When you take something like this out of context and say that someone is a hero I think people assume they couldn’t do the same thing,” Gonzales said after being given the award. “But I believe I did what anybody else would have done in that situation, and we should let people know that they could do the same thing really just by reaching out to their neighbors and their community.”

On Dec. 2, unemployed computer engineer Alan Winterbourne shot and killed three people inside the Oxnard jobs office. He later killed an Oxnard police detective before being shot dead by police outside the Ventura unemployment office.

Gonzales, an insurance salesman for Prudential Insurance Co. in Oxnard, was driving by the unemployment office when he heard shots fired. After turning his car around and driving by the building again, he could see Winterbourne methodically firing at Employment Development Department employees.

He also could see Irma Lopez, the wife of Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez, wounded and struggling to escape out the back door of the building. As glass and bullets flew by, Gonzales helped Lopez into his car and drove her to the hospital.

“He’s so modest about what he did,” said Lopez, who is still going to daily physical therapy sessions for her wounds. “He risked his life for me. It’s something that I’ll never forget.”

Flanked by his wife Nicole, their young daughter Georgette and his son Ray, Gonzales listened as members of the board praised his act of heroism. Nearby was Betsy Cosgrove, Gonzales’ boss at Prudential Insurance.

“The first thing he told me after the incident was that he didn’t think. He was just acting on instinct,” Cosgrove said. “I think the whole thing affected him though. He’s a real sensitive guy.”

While his wife videotaped the supervisors’ meeting, Gonzales accepted the award handed to him by Supervisor John Flynn and received a congratulatory kiss from Lopez.

Quoting the board’s resolution, Flynn told Gonzales that his actions during the rampage were “a bright light in an otherwise dark day.”

Gonzales said his experience has only reinforced his values and his commitment to his community. He said he plans on participating in more civic organizations such as the Port Hueneme Boys & Girls Club, and encouraging others to reach out to their neighbors.

“It brought my life into focus and gave me a chance to look at what I stand for and believe in,” he said. “It used to be that everybody knew their neighbors and people didn’t think twice about helping each other out. I’d like to see that again.”

In addition to the praise from the Board of Supervisors, Gonzales was recently nominated for an award from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation for his heroism.

HELENA PASQUARELLA / For The Times