Ventura County – It was just after 9:30 p.m. on December 27th when a 911 Emergency call was received by the Fillmore Police Department Dispatch Center reporting a gunshot victim on the streets of downtown Fillmore, in eastern Ventura County.
When Fillmore patrol units and Fillmore Fire Department emergency medical technicians arrived on the scene, the 18-year old male victim told officers that he and his brother had been walking down the sidewalk “when they were confronted by suspects in a vehicle who began shooting at them,” according to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Anthony Aguirre.
Even though the victim had been shot, he and his brother managed to flee the shooting scene on foot to avoid further violence. After the Fire Department EMTs stabilized the victim, he was transported to an area hospital in stable condition with non-life threatening wounds.
As Fillmore deputies continued their investigation into the shooting, a motor vehicle accident was reported some distance away on the outskirts of the City of Ventura. Responding law enforcement discovered three occupants of an immobilized car earlier reported as stolen. Deputies quickly “determined the three occupants of the vehicle were responsible for the earlier shooting,” and that they’d simply lost control of the car when it crashed. Arrested at the scene were Steven Cortez, 20, Christian Castanada, 21, both hailing from Santa Paula, and Ricardo Magana, a 21-year old resident of Ventura.
All three were booked into Ventura County Jail on charges of attempted murder, street terrorism, and auto theft. Castanada and Magana had bail set at $500,000 each, while Cortez earned himself a bail amount in excess of $1,000,000.
Photos: Courtesy Ventura County Jail Booking
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