Oxnard, California (OPD) — On April 7, 2023, around 6:00 p.m., residents in the 2000 block of East Bard Road called the Oxnard Police Department’s Emergency Communications Center to report that a person was brandishing and threatening residents with a knife. Oxnard Police Officers responded to the location to investigate. When officers arrived on scene, they located 18-year-old Christian Baltazar Torrez inside a green truck. The truck belonged to a resident, who had not given Torrez permission to enter his vehicle. The officers gave him several commands to exit the truck, and he did not readily comply. After approximately five minutes, Torrez exited the truck, and began walking towards the officers. The officers saw that Torrez was holding a knife in his left hand. He continued to walk in the direction of the officers as the officers ordered him to drop the knife.
Of the four police officers and patrol sergeant at the scene of this incident, three of the officers drew their handguns, one officer had a “less lethal” shotgun, and the patrol sergeant drew their Taser. As Torrez failed to comply with the direction of the officers, the sergeant deployed his taser. The Taser probes contacted Torrez, but had minimal effect; he was able to continue moving towards the officers. The officer with the less lethal shotgun fired one “bean bag” round, which caused Torrez to fall to the ground. He quickly got back on his feet, knife in hand, in close proximity to officers, when officer Sheffield fired four handgun rounds at Torrez. Torrez fell to the ground after being shot. The officers called for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and provided life saving efforts, including CPR, until EMS personnel arrived on scene. An ambulance transported Torrez to the Ventura County Medical Center, and he was pronounced deceased at approximately 7:00 p.m.
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