Man Held After Standoff and Van Shooting

A man described by police as delusional and possibly suicidal was arrested in Oxnard after firing shots into a van carrying four people, including two small children, authorities said Thursday.

No one was injured in the attack that began about 9 p.m. Wednesday when the suspect, David Anthony Ramkissoon, 31, of Bakersfield, allegedly rear-ended a van at the intersection of Wooley Road and A Street.

Police said Ramkissoon became angry when one of the passengers got out to talk to him.

“He became verbally aggressive, and when the passenger went back to his vehicle, the suspect fired several gunshots at his car for no reason,” said Cmdr. Scott Whitney of the Oxnard Police Department.

Whitney said the van sped off, and the driver called 911 on her cell phone. The gunman followed the van to a parking lot in the 2500 block of Ventura Road in Port Hueneme and fired with a semi-automatic pistol, hitting the van several times, police said.

Officers from Oxnard and Port Hueneme converged on the scene. Authorities said Ramkissoon, who was driving a blue pickup truck, fled north on Ventura Road to Wooley Road, where he hit the center median.

“His car got stranded on the center median, and the officers set up a containment of the scene,” Whitney said.

“They tried to negotiate with him but he was noncompliant. We called in SWAT teams and hostage negotiators,” he said.

Ramkissoon barricaded himself in his truck and refused to surrender, police said.

Police sealed off surrounding roads during the negotiations and Ramkissoon surrendered about midnight. He complained of back pain and was taken to Ventura County Medical Center, where he was listed in good condition Thursday.

Ventura Police Lt. Bryan Roberts said his department received an anonymous call Wednesday warning that a suicidal man in a blue truck was heading for Oxnard.

The van occupants, who asked police not to be identified, included a 63-year-old man, a 55-year-old woman, an 8-year-old boy and a 2-year-old boy. Police do not believe the attacker knew the victims.

Ramkissoon was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.