Report Clears Officer Who Shot Hostage-Taker

Investigators said an Oxnard police officer did not violate department policies when he fired a single fatal bullet into the head of a 17-year-old boy holding a Hueneme High School student hostage.

The finding clears Oxnard SWAT Officer Randy Latimer of any wrongdoing and shields him from criminal prosecution in the Jan. 10 death of Richard Gene Lopez.

According to a report released Monday by the district attorney’s office, Lopez told friends that his “time was up” and that he had “nothing to live for.”

Lopez, an Oxnard gang member with a history of psychiatric problems, went to Hueneme High School’s campus during the lunch break to visit friends. Because Lopez was not a student, administrators asked him to leave. In the school parking lot, Lopez, for unknown reasons, tried to block a car driven by Gerardo Gonzalez, who was trying to drop off student Lorena Gonzalez, his cousin.

Lorena Gonzalez got out of the car and walked onto campus shortly before Lopez fired three bullets into Gerardo Gonzalez’s vehicle as it sped away, the report said. Flying glass from the rear windshield cut the driver, but he received only minor injuries.

Lopez then followed Lorena Gonzalez onto campus and grabbed her around the neck while holding a gun to her side, the report said. As police arrived, Lopez told his hostage not to worry, he wouldn’t hurt her.

“He wanted the police officer talking to him to kill him,” the report said. “He wanted to die, but couldn’t commit suicide, because he [believed he] would then go to hell.”

After several minutes, Lopez cocked the gun and moved it to the girl’s head.

Latimer, a five-year veteran of the Oxnard SWAT team, told the district attorney’s office he felt the girl’s life was in danger and “believing he had a clear shot, he fired once to protect the victim.”

An autopsy revealed Lopez had amphetamines and methamphetamines in his system, a combination that Dr. Dea Boehme of the Ventura County Crime Lab said could prompt violent and irrational behavior.

The district attorney’s office routinely investigates all officer-involved shootings to determine whether the incidents warranted deadly force and that police acted appropriately.