FILLMORE : Quarrel Leads to Drive-By Shooting

A Fillmore man suffered serious bullet wounds and another was arrested in connection with a drive-by shooting that began with an earlier argument in Fillmore, sheriff’s deputies said Friday.

Joel Lopez, 20, suffered several bullet wounds to the neck and abdomen while in front of his house in the 300 block of Del Valle Drive about 9:30 p.m. Thursday, Sheriff’s Detective Raul Munoz said.

Deputies, given descriptions of the gunman, arrested 18-year-old Reynaldo Villagomez about an hour later at his house in the 900 block of 3rd Street, not far from the site of the shooting, Munoz said.

He said Lopez, along with his brother and two men, had been standing in front of his house when a motorist in a dark-gray older Toyota pulled up. The two brothers approached the Toyota, words were exchanged, and the motorist fired a small-caliber handgun toward them. The bullets struck Lopez, detectives said.

After being driven to a relative’s house on nearby Sespe Avenue, Lopez was taken to Santa Paula Memorial Hospital, where a nursing supervisor said he was in serious condition after undergoing surgery.

Villagomez was booked at the Ventura County Jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, Sgt. Jeff Matson said. Bail was $25,000 and Villagomez is to be arraigned Tuesday, Munoz said.

Detectives had not determined whether the Thursday night shooting was gang-related, he said.