An Oxnard police officer shot a 24-year-old man who officials say was holding a knife early Friday.
The man, an Oxnard resident, was transported to Ventura County Medical Center in critical condition, the Oxnard Police Department said in a release. No update on the man’s condition was available as of late morning.
The incident is the Oxnard agency’s third shooting by a police officer since March 12.
During Friday’s incident, an officer was called to a two-story apartment building at 235 E. Seventh St. around 12:15 a.m. to assist Oxnard firefighters with an “uncooperative subject” needing medical attention, according to the police account.
The 24-year-old was reportedly hallucinating. Oxnard Fire Department personnel had been told he was on the second floor with a knife and had been cutting himself.
The man had gone into a community bathroom on the second floor before the first police officer arrived. The officer took a position at the top of the stairs, according to the police account.
The man came out of the bathroom “with a knife in his hand and then advanced directly toward the officer,” police officials said in the release.
When the man failed to comply with the officer’s commands, the officer opened fire.
The officer was not injured. No information was immediately provided about the officer’s employment history with the department. He or she has been placed on administrative leave, which is standard practice after such use of force.
A nearby security camera and the officer’s body-worn camera captured the incident. The footage will be released at a later date, the department said.
Two other recent Oxnard police shootings were fatal.
On March 12, an officer shot and killed Adam Barcenas, 60, as he advanced toward police with a large metal pole during an unrelated DUI investigation in the downtown area.
On April 7, police fatally shot 18-year-old Christian Baltazar Torrez as he approached officers while holding a knife near Oxnard College.
The department released body-worn camera and some security camera footage from the prior incidents, which are both undergoing multiple investigations.