Accidental Shooting Kills 19-Year-Old

A 19-year-old man was accidentally killed by a gunshot to the chest during a birthday party this weekend, police said Sunday.

Carlos Ramirez Gomez died at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard after being shot once with a .22-caliber semi-automatic handgun, Oxnard Police Sgt. Lee Wilcox said.

“It was accidental. There was no intention for this person to be shot,” Wilcox said.

After the incident, which occurred about 6:15 p.m. Saturday in the bedroom of a house in the 1200 block of Ventura Road, officers interviewed a dozen of the dead man’s family members and friends who were at the party, Wilcox said.

There had been no arrests by late Sunday, but Wilcox said police have identified who shot Gomez. The sergeant said a decision whether to charge the person would be made this week.

It was still unclear who brought the gun to the party, Wilcox said. A .22-caliber pistol was later recovered at the house, he said.

Gomez, an employee of the Saticoy Lemon Assn., had been at the birthday party of a friend’s 1-year-old child. Alcohol was served, but it was unclear whether the shooter or the victim was drunk, Wilcox said.

Firefighters responded to the scene and performed CPR on Gomez, but he died on arrival at the hospital, they said. The case is being handled as a homicide.