2 Oxnard Men Shot in Alleged Gang Retaliation

Two Oxnard men were shot outside a Port Hueneme condo, allegedly in retaliation for a gang-related double homicide last week in the seaside city, police said Tuesday.

Antonio Fernandez and Jesus Joaquin, both 23 and both believed to be gang members, were shot about 6 p.m. Monday as they stood in front of the complex in the 200 block of Hemlock Street, said Port Hueneme Police Cmdr. Jerry Beck. The two were listed in serious but stable condition at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard.

“For whatever reasons, the gangs are going after each other and attacking again,” Beck said. “Things are very volatile right now.”

Fernandez and Joaquin were visiting a woman at the condo when three unidentified men walked up and one fired several rounds at the victims.

The three men then ran to a nearby alley and fled in a car, Beck said. Witnesses were being interviewed Tuesday afternoon.

Fernandez, who was shot in the abdomen and buttocks, was able to crawl inside the condo and call police. Joaquin collapsed on the frontyard with a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

Beck said the victims were members of a gang that may have been involved in the double killing last week on North Ventura Road in Port Hueneme.

On April 7, Anthony Roseby, 21, and Richard Gonzalez, 19, members of a rival Oxnard gang to that of Fernandez and Joaquin, died after Roseby’s Oldsmobile was chased and shot at by the occupant of a dark compact car.

Roseby’s car crashed into a roadside tree and burst into flames. Roseby died from a gunshot to the head and Gonzalez was ejected from the car and died from blunt-force trauma.

A passing motorist, Myrna Littell, 52, of Oxnard, was struck in the neck by stray gunfire during the chase. She is recovering at an Oxnard hospital.

Authorities were unclear on what prompted the recent violence, but it follows an announcement last month by county prosecutors that they were seeking a permanent injunction against a notoriously violent Oxnard gang -- one that authorities confirmed was involved in both Port Hueneme shooting cases.

The injunction would severely limit gang members’ ability to congregate in Oxnard and would impose a curfew for them in several areas of the city.