2 Injured in Separate Shootings

A woman bystander was shot and wounded during a family dispute and was rushed to an Oxnard emergency room, and a man with a bullet hole through his neck was in fair condition at a Ventura hospital after separate weekend shootings, police said Sunday.

Veronica Sosa, 35, was shot once in the leg behind an apartment complex in the 1100 block of North H Street in Oxnard about 4 p.m. Sunday, Oxnard Police Officer Clifford Waer said in a statement.

Sosa, who was not the intended victim, was shot when an argument between two men erupted into gunfire. Waer said one of the men produced a handgun during the argument and began firing, hitting Sosa, who was standing nearby, but missing the other man. The gunman is believed to have fired at least three shots. Police would not say why they are classifying the argument as a family dispute.

Sosa was taken to St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard. At her family’s request, no information on her condition was available Sunday night.

Police investigators said late Sunday that they were still looking for the gunman, described as a man in his 20s, who fled in a blue-colored sedan. As of late Sunday, police had not made any arrests in connection with the incident.

Neighbors said the incident was another example of what they called increasing violence in their neighborhood.

“Man, this place is getting as bad as Chicago,” said Joseph Pena, 32. “It’s really getting out of hand around here.”

In the Ventura shooting, Adalberto Ramirez, 18, of Ventura, was shot through the neck by a lone driver in another vehicle as both drivers waited at a red light at Center Street and Ventura Avenue, police said.

He was in fair condition late Sunday at Ventura County Medical Center, where he was treated for a bullet wound to his neck.

“He’s a lucky young man because the bullet went in and then out again,” said Sgt. Carl Handy, who is investigating the shooting. “We never recovered the bullet.”

Police said Ramirez and four passengers were traveling north on Ventura Avenue about 9:15 p.m. Saturday when they stopped at a traffic light.

When the suspect pulled alongside Ramirez, the drivers exchanged hand gestures before the suspect fired two shots from a large-caliber handgun at Ramirez’s car, Handy said.