OXNARD : Shots Fired at House in Racial Attack

A Vietnamese family in Oxnard was the target of a racially motivated drive-by shooting early Sunday, police said.

About 10 bullets were fired at a house on the 1000 block of South G Street, but none of its sleeping residents were hurt, Oxnard Police Officer Lisa Ragone said. The family’s name was not released.

At 1:30 a.m., a champagne-colored Hyundai Excel drove by the house, and about 10 rounds were fired, Ragone said. Ragone said she heard the shots from her patrol car about half a block away and watched the Hyundai leave. She radioed for assistance, she said. Officer Robert Shank, who was in another car two blocks away, saw the Hyundai leave G Street, Ragone said.

Ragone and Shank pulled the car over at Inlet Drive and Rigging Place, and the five juveniles in the car were arrested. Their names were not released because of their ages, Ragone said. Three are 16 and two are 17, she said. All are Oxnard residents. Two are Vietnamese and three are Latino.

“The detectives, through questioning and interviews, later determined it was racially motivated,� Ragone said.

Ragone said she believed that it was the first racially motivated incident against the four-member family.

Two of the four handguns found in the car were stolen in an April 26 burglary at Get-Mor Loan & Jewelry, a local pawnshop, Oxnard Sgt. Jeff Young said. Eight other weapons were later recovered from the burglary, he said.