Ventura County DA Says Deadly Officer Involved Shooting In Oxnard Was Justified
Tuesday May 28, 2024
The Ventura County District Attorney's Office says a deadly officer involved shooting in Oxnard on March 12, 2023 was justified.
Officer Shayn Schwartz fatally shot Adam Barcenas after Barcenas had come at officers while waving a 5 foot long metal pole in what was described as an unprovoked attack.
The DA's review of the shooting said that "Schwartz acted reasonably, and the use of deadly force in self-defense was justified."
The 60-year-old Barcenas was known to police.
He had served time in prison for the unprovoked attacks on an elderly woman and man in separate incidents and had just been released on parole when he came at police who were working an unrelated traffic stop in the area of Fourth and A streets in downtown Oxnard.
You can read the entire DA's report at this link...
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Meanwhile, our previous story and the OPD Critical Incident report are located below...
The Oxnard Police Department has released a report and video from officer body worn cameras of the deadly officer involved shooting of a man on Sunday March 12th in downtown Oxnard.
Here we are providing a link to the video and the entire news release from Oxnard PD regarding the incident.
THIS IS IMPORTANT--The video contains language and images that can be disturbing and you may not want to see it.
We have other stories on this web page regarding other aspects of this story but here we will let the video and the news release speak for themselves.
Here is the link to the You Tube Video report and body worn camera footage from the three officers involved in the incident:
VIDEO: https://youtu.be/8IHy6iYPh2w
And here is the entire news release from OPD...
"The Oxnard Police Department has released a Critical Incident Community Briefing video of the officer involved shooting incident that occurred at approximately 6:00 A.M. on Sunday, March 12, 2023.
The public can view the Critical Incident Community Briefing video on the Oxnard Police Department’s YouTube channel: youtube.com/oxnardpolice. The link to the Critical Incident Community Briefing video will also be available on the Oxnard Police Department’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts.
Immediately preceding the shooting incident, three Oxnard Police Department officers were conducting a DUI investigation on the north side of the 100 block of West Fourth Street, between ‘A' Street and Oxnard Boulevard. Officers Shayn Schwartz, Alexus Santos, and Bryce Parker were finishing up the investigation. Officer Santos was standing on the sidewalk with a member of the public when the suspect, Adam Barcenas, quickly approached from the west. Barcenas was not involved with the DUI investigation. Barcenas was yelling at the officers, repeatedly stating that he hated them. Barcenas was wielding a steel bar, approximately five feet in length, with both hands. Bacenas continued to yell at the officers as he advanced towards them. Officers Santos and Parker drew their tasers, and Officer Schwartz drew his service firearm. The member of the public was directed to move away from the danger, and the officers commanded Barcenas to put the bar down. Barcenas ignored the officers’ commands and continued to advance towards the officers in an aggressive and threatening manner.
Barcenas advanced on Officer Schwartz, and Officer Schwartz fired four shots from his firearm. Three of the four bullets struck Barcenas. Barcenas was shot in the inner thigh of his right leg, his left hip and his left upper torso. Simultaneously, Officer Santos fired her taser. The taser probes struck Barcenas, but embedded in Barcenas’ clothing and did not penetrate his skin. Officer Parker did not fire his taser.
Following the shooting, the officers rendered first aid until EMS personnel arrived on scene. Barcenas was transported to the Ventura County Medical Center, and was pronounced deceased at approximately 8:30 A.M.
Witnesses at the scene provided statements to detectives.
The officers, as well as the members of the public who were present at the scene, were not harmed during the incident.
All three officers are assigned to the department’s Patrol Division. At the time of this news release, the officers are on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure.
Officer Schwartz has been a police officer with the Oxnard Police Department since April 2022. Prior to becoming an Oxnard police officer, Officer Schwartz was employed as a police officer with the Burbank Police Department from August 2018 through March 2022.
Officer Santos has been a police officer with the Oxnard Police Department since April 2020.
Officer Parker has been an Oxnard police officer since April 2022, but was employed as a deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department from October 2019 through March 2022 before joining the Oxnard Police Department.
None of the involved officers have previously been involved in a shooting incident.
Oxnard Police Chief Jason Benites commented on the process of investigating fatal officer-involved incidents: “Whenever there is an officer-involved shooting, or the officers are otherwise involved in a fatal incident, three separate investigations are set into motion:
First, the Oxnard Police Department’s Major Crimes Investigations Unit conducts a thorough investigation of the entire incident. Once completed, this investigation will be submitted to the District Attorney’s Office for legal review. The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office monitors this investigation as it is underway; their office was notified of the shooting, and promptly responded for their investigation.
Second, our Professional Standards Division conducts a separate administrative investigation that will determine whether the officers’ actions were lawful and within policy. This internal affairs investigation will also include a review of tactics that were used during this incident. We also review any applicable policies.
Third, there will also be an investigation by the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office to determine whether the use of force was legally justified, also referred to as ‘justifiable homicide.’ It is also important to note that it has been their longstanding practice to issue a public report at the conclusion of their investigation.”
