3 Teen-Agers Shot, Wounded at Graduation Party in Oxnard : Violence: The disturbance began when uninvited youths, believed to be gang members from La Colonia, arrived and fought with rivals, witnesses say.

A back-yard graduation party in south Oxnard ended in violence early Saturday morning when suspected gang members crashed the celebration and shot three teen-agers, injuring two seriously, authorities said.

The shootings occurred shortly after 1 a.m. in the 200 block of West Juniper Street, after about a dozen youths believed to be from the La Colonia area showed up at the house party.

The party, which started about 9 p.m., was in honor of two south Oxnard teen-agers who had just graduated, said witnesses.

Witnesses, including one of the victims, said the incident began when a La Colonia gang member began arguing with a rival from south Oxnard.

After the two gang members became embroiled in a fistfight, the La Colonia gang member pulled out a gun and began firing at his foe and others, according to witnesses.

Authorities identified one of the victims as Adam Zubiatti, 19, of Oxnard. Zubiatti, a Hueneme High School student described by friends as about 6-foot-7, was shot once in the chest, they said. He was taken to the Ventura County Medical Center, where on Saturday evening he was listed in critical condition.

Police also said a 17-year-old was seriously wounded. Eyewitnesses said the juvenile, whom authorities refused to identify, was shot in the mouth and stomach. Authorities would not say where he was being treated.

Police identified the third shooting victim as Chris Fields, 19, of Port Hueneme. Fields was shot in the buttock, police and witnesses said.

In an interview, Fields described his injury as a graze. He said his attackers had a handgun and an ice pick.

Everyone was having a good time at the party until the La Colonia youths began filing in, Fields said.

“It was the last couple guys that started all the chaos,” he said. “One guy started a fistfight. He just walked up to somebody and slugged him.”

After the fight was broken up, one of the suspects opened fire, Fields said.

Investigators said they were searching for two males from La Colonia. Witnesses said the people who crashed the party also fired shots into the air as they raced away from the scene.

Less than 12 hours after the shooting, neighbors and witnesses said gang members are prevalent along Juniper but that a shooting with injuries was rare for the neighborhood. “It was a bad night,” said one 29-year-old neighbor, standing outside Saturday afternoon drinking beer from a plastic cup and watching his 2-year-old son.

The man, who said he is moving from the street, said the victims were unarmed. “They had no guns, no weapons, no nothing,” he said. He refused to give his name.

Those familiar with the area said south Oxnard gang members dress in Chicago White Sox gear because its emblem, Sox, can represent south Oxnard. La Colonia gang members dress in Dallas Cowboys paraphernalia.

Witnesses, who declined to give their names, said they knew trouble was brewing as soon as they noticed young men wearing Cowboys clothes gathering around those dressed in White Sox clothing.

At the house where the shooting occurred, a teen-ager wearing a White Sox cap and baggy clothes recalled the shooting Saturday. The youth, with tattoos visible on his arms, said he was talking to his girlfriend in the back yard when gunfire erupted.

He said the shooting suspect apparently began firing his gun because he had lost the fistfight.

Another young man at the same house seemed to sum up the feelings of many in the neighborhood. Standing inside his screen door, the teen-ager shouted: “Typical day in Oxnard.”