Shooting Victim Becomes Shooting Suspect
On the evening of October 4th, a 911 Emergency call reporting the sounds of gunfire in a Ventura residential neighborhood brought Ventura Police Department patrol units to a home on Carlsbad Place, where officers found Erica Landeros, 25, with a gunshot wound to her leg.
According to Ventura Police spokesman Cmdr. Juan Reynoso, “she was taken to Ventura County Medical Center for treatment of a gunshot wound,” which she indicated came about as a result of an argument and physical altercation.
There were apparent inconsistencies in her reporting of the circumstances leading to her being shot, however, and subsequent investigation revealed evidence in direct contradiction to Landeros’ version of events. “Detectives located additional witnesses,” Reynoso reported to the media, which revealed that the suspect in the shooting was none other than Landeros herself. The ensuing two weeks of witness interviews and forensic examination of the scene of the shooting revealed that Landeros had, in fact, brandished a handgun in an attempt to prevent her male acquaintance from leaving the home during an aggravated verbal exchange.
During the argument, evidence points to Landeros having pulled a gun on her houseguest, whereupon he attempted to defend himself by shoving a heavy chair at her which knocked her to the floor. As she fell, Reynoso indicated in his report, “the gun discharged one round into her leg,” and the man jumped out of a window as Landeros fired one more time in his direction, missing him.
On October 18th, pursuant to witness statements and completion of their investigation, Detectives arrested Landeros and charged her with assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment, discharge of firearm with gross negligence and being a felon in possession of a firearm. She was booked into Ventura County Jail with bail set at $100,000.
Read more:
KCLU: Ventura Woman Arrested in Incident in Which She Was Wounded by Gun
VCStar: Initial Victim Becomes Suspect in Ventura Gunfire Case
