Camarillo teen shot, killed at Oxnard house party

Arzate Police are calling the shooting death of Vicente Arzate Jr., 16, at an Oxnard house party last weekend a “senseless” act of violence. Investigators are asking for the public’s help in finding the teen’s killer.

Arzate, a junior at Adolfo Camarillo High School, was at a party in the 700 block of Rialto Street in Oxnard when an unknown gunman shot through the home’s front door around 12:25 a.m. on Jan. 30, killing the Camarillo teen and wounding two others, said Sgt. Jim Seitz, head of the Oxnard Police Department’s homicide division.

According to police, an 18year-old female and a 22-yearold male were both taken to St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard to be treated for their gunshot wounds, Seitz said. Both are expected to survive, according to police reports. All three were standing inside the home near the closed front door when the shooting started.

“This was a cowardly act,” Seitz said. “It was a random act of violence.”

He would not say what type of gun was used in the shooting but said that it was a large enough caliber to go through the solid wood front door. He said detectives suspect it was a single gunman who fired multiple shots into the home.

Police searched the surrounding neighborhoods for the shooter, but no arrests were made.

The sergeant said many of the people inside the home at the time of the shooting ran out the back of the house and escaped into the backyards of neighboring homes. Seitz said the party was at a home rented by three young men and that police are still trying to determine how many partygoers were in the home at the time of the shooting.

Detectives are investigating why the home was targeted, said Seitz. Police don’t believe it was a gang-related shooting, but Seitz said it may have been committed by a member of a tagging crew who might have been turned away from the party by one of the men renting the home.

Seitz said shortly before the shooting began, one of the men who lived at the home talked to a group of people in front of the home and then went back inside and locked the door.

According to Seitz, police had been called to the home numerous times in the past because of loud parties.

From all accounts, Arzate was considered by teachers and classmates as a thoughtful teenager who was devoted to his Catholic faith.

“He was very respectful,” said Pascual Campos, a Spanish teacher at Camarillo High who had Arzate as a student.

Campos said Arzate had transferred from another high school last year and lived in Camarillo with his mother. His father lives in Oxnard.

“I wanted for him to feel at home because I knew that he was coming from another school, but he was making a lot of friends,” Campos said. “He was quiet, yet sociable. He wasn’t loud, but he was friendly. He would have a smile, and he would respect other people.”

Arzate would have started another semester in Campos’ class on Monday.

Campos said he learned of the fatal shooting Sunday morning. “That was devastating,” he said. “It was very sad.”

Guillermina Ponce, a 14-yearold Camarillo High student, said she met Arzate earlier this year when he gave her a ride home from school. They soon became friends.

“Whenever I had a problem, like I was sad, he would be there for me,” said Ponce, tears welling in her eyes. “He would hug me, and tell me that everything is going to be okay. He said I was his little sister. He would always take care of me.”

Ponce said Azarte wore a rosary outside his shirt and was seldom seen without it.

She said he had invited her to the party on Saturday night but that she already had plans to go to Magic Mountain.

“I was imagining, ‘What if I was there?’ I wouldn’t be here anymore,” Ponce said.

Principal Glenn Lipmann said Azarte was “very nice, respectful, easy-going and friendly.”

Lippmann told students about the shooting in a public announcement Monday morning. “We had counselors and school psychologists that were available,” Lipmann said. “It’s the worst part about being a principal is having to see a student pass away.”

Police are asking for anyone with information about the shooting to call Detective Jeff Kay at (805) 385-8174. Anonymous calls can also be made to the Oxnard Police Department’s Violent Crimes Hotline at (805) 982-7070.