A 16-year-old boy walked into Bakersfield police custody on Tuesday afternoon, nearly a week after officers fatally shot a 23-year-old man during a confrontation on the city's south side. The teen surrendered at about 2:40 p.m. and was booked on an outstanding weapons warrant, closing out the search for a second person who fled the scene of the October 14 shooting.
Teen Booked Into Juvenile Hall
According to KGET, the boy was arrested on a warrant for weapons charges and booked into Kern County Juvenile Hall. Police said no additional suspects remain outstanding, effectively closing the search that began the night of the shooting. The Kern County Superior Court notes that its juvenile division generally holds jurisdiction over youths under age 18, and that a child found to have committed a criminal act can be deemed delinquent and made a ward of the court.
The shooting that set off the search happened at 9:15 p.m. on October 14 in the 1000 block of Pacheco Road, as BakersfieldNow reports, when officers tried to make contact with two people near Monitor Street. Both of them allegedly fled from officers, according to the same account. One of the two was shot and killed; the other left the area and remained at large until this week's surrender.
Victim Identified, Investigation Still Active
The Kern County Coroner's Office identified the man killed as Daniel James Ruiz, 23, of Bakersfield. He was pronounced dead at the scene after being shot, and police said medical aid was provided before he died. A firearm was recovered at the scene, the station's report notes, though the circumstances of the confrontation have been described differently across accounts.
One police-sourced account described officers attempting to make contact with the two men before they fled. A separate Spanish-language report from the same outlet described officers returning fire after one of the suspects allegedly opened fire on them first, per KGET's Telemundo coverage. Neither version has been definitively reconciled in available reporting.
The officers involved were wearing body cameras and were placed on administrative leave, consistent with Bakersfield Police Department policy following officer-involved shootings, per the same outlet. Investigators previously said the case remained active and ongoing, and that they could not provide additional updates on the search for the second suspect at the time.
Community Mourning Continues
Ruiz's death drew mourners to a vigil in south Bakersfield in the days following the shooting, where attendees remembered him as he was described at the gathering: in God's arms, according to coverage of the event. The vigil underscored the toll the shooting took on the surrounding community even as the investigation into exactly what happened on Pacheco Road continued.
Under California's Assembly Bill 1506, the state Department of Justice is required to investigate officer-involved shootings that result in the death of an unarmed civilian, according to the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General.
With the teen now in custody and police saying no further suspects are outstanding, attention turns to how the broader investigation into the shooting itself will unfold. No additional details about potential charges against the teen, or further findings from the officer-involved shooting review, have been released.
