A 42-year-old Camarillo resident, Alvin Otis Johnson, has been taken into custody following a deadly series of events in Ventura County that left two people dead and three injured. According to KTLA, the rampage began near the intersection of Rice Road and East Channel Islands Boulevard on Thursday afternoon, where Johnson allegedly stabbed 33-year-old Ricardo Juarez in a vehicle. The victim was later declared dead at a local hospital.
The subsequent manhunt concluded when Johnson was apprehended at a residence on Huerta Court in Camarillo, as reported by NBC Los Angeles. Earlier, a 911 call led responding deputies to find, along with Johnson, a severely injured 75-year-old Marilyn Gallagher, who later succumbed to her injuries at the hospital, according to the Ventura County Sheriff's Office. Shelter-in-place orders had been issued in the neighborhood, with residents heeding as law enforcement sought the assailant.
Inside the residence on Huerta Court, two other men were discovered with non-life-threatening injuries, one of whom had reported an assault with a deadly weapon at the nearby Camarillo Police Station. In a statement obtained by CBS News Los Angeles, the Ventura County Sheriff's Department implied that drugs may have been a factor. Captain Dean Worthy of the Ventura County Sheriff's Office confirmed that the suspect and the victims were acquainted and circulated within the same social group, detailed CBS News.
Johnson now faces a slew of charges, including two counts of murder, with bail set at $2 million. He is scheduled for arraignment on September 3rd. Details surrounding the motives for the attacks remain a topic of investigation, as mentioned by the Ventura County Sheriff's Office in a news release featured by Nixle. Community members with any information that could assist in the ongoing investigation have been encouraged by Sergeant Gabriel Gonzales to contact Detective Kathryn Torres at 805-384-4740.
