Progress Being Made in Slaying, Police Say

Sorting through conflicting witness accounts, Oxnard police officials on Thursday would say only that they are making progress investigating Monday’s fatal shooting of a 13-year-old.

Four investigators and a sergeant have been assigned full-time to the south Oxnard case, which officials say appears not to be gang-related.

“Hopefully, we’re going to make some headway,” Police Cmdr. Joe Munoz said.

“We’ve interviewed a number of people and we’re slowly finding out exactly the sequence of everything and exactly what led to this individual’s death.”

Carlos Martinez was pronounced dead on Tuesday night, a day after he was found inside a parked van with a single gunshot wound to the head.

Police believe the boy decided to go for a ride in the van with several other teenage boys. The van stopped in an alley in the 200 block of Campbell Way, where some of the boys got out and went into a home. Carlos stayed behind in the van, where he was shot with a small-caliber gun.

Three days after the shooting, police still will say little about the investigation.

At the request of investigators, county coroner’s officials released no information beyond the cause of death.

“The fact of the matter is that when we talked to witnesses the first time, we’re finding out there are some conflicts in what they’re telling us,” Munoz said.

“Rather than put out false information, we’re trying to determine what they’re telling us is factual.”