19-Year-Old Five Guys Employee Shot in Oxnard; Teen Arrested for Attempted Murder
Jonathan Vasquez Jr., 19, was shot while on break at a Five Guys in Oxnard, CA. A 16-year-old suspect was arrested and booked for attempted murder.
Teen Gunman Shoots Five Guys Worker on Break in Oxnard Beach Town
A 19-year-old Five Guys employee was critically wounded in a shooting at the restaurant's Oxnard location Friday evening, NY Post Metro reports. The victim, identified as Jonathan Vasquez Jr. — known as JJ — was on break inside the restaurant when a gunshot was fired outside at around 8:26 p.m.
According to the Oxnard Police Department, the shot was fired during an altercation between a 16-year-old male suspect and two unidentified males in the 2700 block of Portico Way. Officers who responded to the scene located Vasquez with a single gunshot wound and transported him to a local hospital in critical condition. Investigators determined he was not the intended target.
Vasquez was a student at Ventura College and had only recently started the job at Five Guys. "He just graduated high school, where he was captain of his football team and a continuous student on the high honors roll. He was starting his very first job while attending Ventura College, learning how to balance working, going to school, and joining the Track team as a thrower," his aunt wrote on a GoFundMe page created in his support.
The fundraiser describes Vasquez as "a diligent, strong, and smart kid" whose "heart is made of gold." More than $48,200 of the $60,000 fundraising goal had been raised as of the latest update.
Investigators from the Oxnard Police Department obtained a search warrant for the teenage suspect, also from Oxnard, following the shooting. Members of the Oxnard SWAT team and K9 Unit arrested the alleged shooter as he left his residence. He was subsequently booked into the Ventura County Juvenile Justice Center on a charge of attempted murder.
The cause of the altercation that preceded the shooting remains unknown.
Source: NY Post Metro