Memorial for 4 Victims of Last Year’s Shooting Spree Proposed : Supervisors: County board will consider planting a rose garden at government center for those slain in Dec. 2 rampage.

With the first anniversary looming for Ventura County’s bloodiest shooting spree, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will consider planting a memorial rose garden at the government center to commemorate the four murder victims of Alan Winterbourne.

Supervisors Maggie Kildee and Maria E. VanderKolk are proposing that two rows of roses be planted on a slope around the flagpole at the main entrance to the County Government Center in Ventura to remember those who died Dec. 2.

Winterbourne, a 33-year-old unemployed computer programmer, killed three people at the Oxnard Employment Development Department and an Oxnard police officer as Winterbourne made his way to another employment office in Ventura, where he was shot dead by police.

In addition to the rose garden, Kildee and VanderKolk will ask the board to approve moving a police officers memorial to a more visible location in front of the Hall of Justice.

Survivors of the deadly Oxnard rampage said the rose garden would honor those killed and wounded as well as those who assisted the victims.

“Obviously a lot of us don’t want to remember, but it did happen,” said Bobbie Espinoza, a jobs program supervisor who watched the rampage but was not injured. “So this is a very nice gesture.

“It was very sad, but this rose garden means that people will remember, and that’s always good,” she said. “You don’t want to forget the people that were injured or died.”

Kildee and VanderKolk envision two rows of about 10 rose plants, one row on each side of the government center’s main flagpole.

One of two plaques on each side of the pole would serve as a remembrance to the four people killed that day, including Detective James O’Brien. The second plaque would honor the four people wounded and those who assisted the victims.

“Our employees will feel added worth to themselves and the co-workers we lost,” said Oxnard jobs office manager Avelina Villalobos. “Things will probably never be back to business as usual, but people are doing well.”

Since Winterbourne stepped behind the counter at the Oxnard Employment Development Department office and methodically began shooting, a number of security measures have been implemented.

“I’m not afraid because we have the bullet-resistant glass, steel doors and the armed guard,” said Espinoza, who returned to work days after the killings.

“But I’m very much more aware of my surroundings now,” she said. “It’s changed me in that way. Even if I’m just going to the store, I’m on the lookout.”

Oxnard Police Chief Harold Hurtt said he likes the idea of honoring public servants outside the Police Department.

“Oftentimes when things like this happen, we think about the peace officers because of the dangers they face every day,” Hurtt said. “But this offer is a real recognition to those other public employees.”

Sheriff’s Sgt. Miguel Colon, a board member of the Peace Officers Assn. of Ventura County, said his group wants to relocate an existing memorial to officers killed in the line of duty to a more visible spot.

The bronze plaque outside the main entrance to Ventura County Jail would be moved to an area between the law library and the front of the Hall of Justice.

“Nobody gets to see it unless you’re coming into the Sheriff’s Department or the jail,” Colon said. Colon said his association is accepting donations to pay for the relocation and construction of another peace officers monument at the same location.

He said donations can be sent to the Peace Officers Assn. of Ventura County, Post Office Box 796, Fillmore, Calif., 93016.