OXNARD : Memorial to Honor Shooting Victims
A rose garden to commemorate the victims of last year’s mass murder at an Oxnard unemployment office will be planted outside the Ventura County Government Center, supervisors decided.
The memorial also will honor those who came to the aid of seven people who were killed or wounded when an unemployed computer programmer, Alan Winterbourne, entered the north Oxnard office and methodically began firing at state workers.
Three people died at the office last December, and an Oxnard police detective was killed minutes later as he pursued the gunman.
Supervisors said the decision to plant a single row of roses on each side of the flagpole at the main entrance to the government center was reached in a series of community meetings over recent months.
Employment Development Department worker Cathie Jimenez praised the board for being the first public agency in Ventura County to memorialize Winterbourne’s four victims, including Detective James O’Brien.
Officials plan to dedicate the rose garden Dec. 2--the first anniversary of the shooting.
Included in the approval Tuesday was a plan to relocate the existing peace officers memorial from outside the County Jail to a more visible location in front of the Hall of Justice at the government center.
That plaque, which honors Ventura County officers slain in the line of duty, will be moved sometime next year.
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