School Board Member Held in Shooting Outside Bar : Oxnard: Fred Judy, an advocate for the homeless, is booked into jail. The victim was hit in the neck and is in stable condition.

Oxnard school board member Fred Judy was arrested early Saturday on suspicion of attempted murder after allegedly shooting a man during an argument outside a bar.

Police said Judy fired several gunshots at Donald Jones, 56, outside The Shores restaurant and bar at 2:14 a.m., just after closing. Jones was struck once in the neck and was in stable condition at St. John’s Regional Medical Center, police said.

Judy, 54, for years a leading advocate for the homeless in the Oxnard area and a founder of the defunct Zoe Christian Center, was arrested at the scene, authorities said. After being questioned by detectives, he was booked into Ventura County Jail, where he was being held on $250,000 bail.

Police recovered the handgun apparently used in the shooting and impounded Judy’s white limousine parked nearby.

The motive for the shooting and the nature of the argument between the two men were unclear. Detectives investigating the case could not be reached for comment.

Jones, an Oxnard police officer during the early 1960s and a licensed private investigator, was described by the bar’s owner as a regular customer. Judy’s name is engraved on a wall plaque listing members of the second-place team from a dart tournament held there last year.

The dispute began inside the nautical-themed lounge on Harbor Boulevard in Oxnard where both men had been drinking, police and customers said.

The argument later erupted in the parking lot, where Judy pulled out a handgun and fired, police said.

“The dispatcher said they could hear shots coming over the telephone from the (person) who was calling in,” said Cmdr. Jamie Skeeters, who was in charge of patrol operations at the time. “I thought they said someone was inside The Shores restaurant shooting people.

“So I sent the 7th Cavalry,” he said.

The first officers to arrive found Jones lying on the asphalt, bleeding profusely. Paramedics then arrived and transported him to St. John’s hospital.

“They thought he was going to die,” Skeeters said.

*

An acquaintance of both men, Skeeters said he saw Judy after he was brought to the station for questioning.

“I said, ‘Hi, Fred.’ He said, ‘Hi, Jamie,’ ” Skeeters said.

Those who know Judy as the co-founder of the homeless shelter and a trustee of the Oxnard Union High School District expressed surprise at the news of his arrest.

Nancy Koch, a fellow school board member, described Judy as “a very kind man” who tries to steer others away from conflict.

“Sometimes when we have disagreements, Fred’s always the first one to say, ‘Stop, let’s cool down and look at this clearly,’ ” she said. “I’m flabbergasted.”

Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez said he, too, was stunned by the incident because of Judy’s work as a minister and youth counselor.

“I didn’t think of Fred Judy as being a violent person,” he said. “It’s surprising even that he was in a bar at two in the morning.”

The Zoe Christian Center, the county’s only year-round homeless shelter, was shut down in May, 1993, because of zoning violations and huge debts, including $300,000 in unpaid rent, utilities and other bills.

Judy later filed suit against the city and accused Oxnard leaders of conspiring to thwart his attempts to help the homeless.

*

Despite his tumultuous relationship with Oxnard officials, Judy ran for the City Council last November, saying he wanted to bring a sense of humanity to the council. He finished sixth of 11 candidates, winning 1,607 votes.

During his unsuccessful campaign, Judy expressed his frustration with politicians and spoke of his own financial difficulties.

“I had a battle with the city of Oxnard for many, many years, and the people I was trying to help were put out on the streets,” Judy said. “Since the center collapsed, I’ve had a hard time making ends meet.”

Jones worked as an Oxnard Police officer in the early 1960s, leaving the department for unknown reasons in 1967, Skeeters said. He later ran his own business as a private investigator.

At midday Saturday, Oxnard Shores residents gawked at a yellow chalked outline of Jones’ body, marking where he fell. Inside the restaurant, patrons discussed the shooting over breakfast.

Boyer Jackson, a regular customer at The Shores, said Jones “didn’t argue with nobody. He was always laughing.”

Fields is a Times staff writer and Stoll is a correspondent. Times staff writer Duncan Martel also contributed to this report.