Man Shot in Chest Drives to Find Help

An 18-year-old Oxnard man was shot in the chest Wednesday morning but managed to drive until he found a police officer stopped by the roadside, a police spokesman said.

Joshua Scott was approached in the 1500 block of McLoughlin Avenue about 8:30 a.m. by two men, one of whom shot him once in the upper left side of his chest with a small-caliber handgun or rifle.

Scott got in his car and drove more than two miles before he found Officer Luis Mancha, who had pulled over a car near Yucca and B streets. Covered in blood, Scott approached Mancha, who then called paramedics.

“He was able to drive quite a distance,” said Oxnard Police Sgt. Marty Meyer. “It’s a lot of driving on surface streets and traffic signals and the whole bit and it would take a lot of time to get there.”

Scott was taken by ambulance to Oxnard’s St. John’s Regional Medical Center, where he was in stable condition, police said Wednesday afternoon.

Authorities said the bullet missed vital organs and struck Scott near his left shoulder.

Investigators do not know what prompted the shooting, but they suspect gang involvement, Meyer said.

The suspects fled in a large, white sedan and are still at large, but police anticipate making arrests soon, he said.

Hospital representatives would not comment on the victim’s condition Wednesday evening.