Oxnard police shoot 34-year-old man after he points gun at officers

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0:00 - Intro
1:48 - 911 call
3:05 - Body cam 1
15:20 - Shooting
15:46 - Cellphone video
16:31 - Ending
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Oxnard police released a video Tuesday of a shooting in October that shows a man aiming a handgun at officers just before they opened fire.

Cesar Ayalaarteaga, 34, was wounded by a single gunshot from police and stayed a week in the hospital. He has spent the last three months in Ventura County jail held on $1 million bail and has pleaded not guilty to 22 felony charges stemming from the incident.

Police shot Ayalaarteaga on Oct. 21 after a standoff that lasted less than an hour. He yelled and swore at officers from the patio of his apartment in Oxnard, eventually coming out of the front door with a gun in his hand and holding it to his own head. When he aimed it at the police, two officers fired a total of four shots at him, hitting him once.

The Oxnard Police Department and the Ventura County District Attorney's Office are both still investigating the shooting. Police spell the man's name as Ayala-Arteaga, but it is listed in Ventura County Superior Court records as one word.

The officers who shot at Ayalaarteaga, Sgt. David McAlpine and Officer Ricardo Garcia, were put on administrative leave, which is routine in police shootings. They have since returned to work.

"In this case, it did appear that the officers were acting within department policy, and there was nothing that would prevent them from returning to their assignments," said Oxnard Police Cmdr. Rocky Marquez.

'He's driving really fast ... He's also shooting a gun'

Police received multiple calls the evening of Oct. 21 about Ayalaarteaga, Williams said in the department's video. First, someone said they'd been cut off on Victoria Avenue by a white sedan, and the driver then got out and fired a gun into the air. Half an hour later, another caller said the driver of a white sedan had brandished a revolver while driving and then sped off.

A few minutes later, a resident of an apartment complex on Leeward Way — a street off of Victoria Avenue, just east of the Seabridge development — called 911.

"There's a white Lexus driving around," the caller said, according to a recording that was included in the video. "He's driving really fast around the parking lot. ... He's also shooting a gun."

Officers arrived soon after and found the Lexus empty in the parking lot of the complex. A man later identified as Ayalaarteaga was standing on the fenced patio of a nearby apartment. He said it was his car, but wouldn't leave the patio to talk to the officers.

He soon became "agitated and belligerent," Williams said, swearing at the officers, throwing a trash can over the fence at them and refusing their demands to hold up his hands and leave the patio. At one point, he yelled, "Are you ready to die tonight? ... I'm going to die tonight."

Ayalaarteaga eventually came out the front door, shirtless, with the officers' guns trained on him. An officer shocked him with a Taser, but it had no apparent effect, and he went back inside.

He came outside again with a gun in his hand, sometimes holding it to his head. An officer shouted to him, "if you point that, you're going to get shot."

Ayalaarteaga then went inside and closed the window blinds. The officers heard a series of gunshots. He came out a few minutes later and got into his car. He backed it out of the parking space, got out, and again stood in front of the apartment.

A video shot by a bystander clearly shows Ayalaarteaga then raised his gun and pointed it toward the officers. McAlpine and Garcia immediately fired at him.

Paramedics who had already been called to the scene administered aid and took Ayalaarteaga to Ventura County Medical Center, Williams said in the video. He left the hospital on Oct. 29, when he was immediately arrested and charged with crimes that include assault with a deadly weapon.