OXNARD : Man Critically Hurt in Alley Shooting

Gunshots ringing through an Oxnard alleyway Wednesday evening left one man critically wounded and grazed a woman’s leg, apparently catching the two by surprise as they strolled between apartment buildings, Oxnard police said.

The shootings occurred about 6 p.m. in the 500 block of Cuesta del Mar Street, police said. The man did not seem to have a pulse when the ambulances arrived, but he was revived enough to be transported to St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, police said. He remained in the emergency room late Wednesday.

The woman refused treatment at the hospital, police said. Her wound was not severe enough for the officers to force her to go.

Police were not releasing the names of the victims, though they said the woman is in her mid-20s. Police also did not say whether they had suspects in the shooting. Whoever shot the couple was on foot, Sgt. Cliff Troy said, according to the woman.

Troy said the passersby seemed to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. “Neither one of the victims was intended,” he said. “The woman said she heard some commotion, and the next thing she knew, she had a pain in her leg.”

Police did not know whether gangs were involved in the gunfire, but neighbor Johnny Lemuz said: “Around here, it has to be gang-related.”