Man Killed, Another Wounded in Gang-Style Attack

One man was killed and another injured after they were struck by a hail of bullets in south Oxnard late Friday, police said.

Hector Daniel Rivera, 19, died after being shot once in the upper chest and 18-year-old Fernando Leon was struck as many as eight times during what police described as a gang-style attack. Leon was treated at St. John’s Regional Medical Center and transferred to an undisclosed hospital in stable condition.

According to police, the two men, both from Oxnard, were attacked by a group of males who approached them on foot about 11:15 p.m. in the 600 block of La Canada Avenue. A toddler and teenager were nearby at the time of the shooting but escaped injury, police said.

“The fortunate part of this is, if there is one, is that more people weren’t hurt,” said Oxnard Police Det. Doug Wiley. “It could have been a lot more tragic than it already is.”

Wiley added that Rivera, who was deaf, probably didn’t hear the attackers approach and didn’t have time to react.

Friday’s killing jolted area residents who are not used to deadly violence occurring so close to their homes.

“When we first moved here it was so peaceful and quiet,” said one woman who asked not to be identified. “But now it’s scary. I don’t feel safe at all around here anymore.”

However, Barbara Herring, who has lived for 38 years in a house a block adjacent to the murder scene, said that although the area has become increasingly gritty and violent, she has no plans to leave.

“Sure it makes you wonder about how safe you are, but we’ve always felt comfortable here,” she said. “It’d take a lot more for me to move out.”