OXNARD : Police Send File on Shooting to D.A.

The investigation into the fatal shooting of a homeless man by an Oxnard police officer took a significant step forward on Thursday when the Oxnard Police Department sent a thick report on the incident to the county prosecutor.

“We have not drawn any conclusions,” police spokesman David Keith said. “We simply submitted the facts. We’ll let the D.A. come up with conclusions.”

Ventura County Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard Holmes, who is in charge of the investigation, said “about 350 pages of paperwork” were delivered to him by Oxnard Detective Dan Christian, who works in the Police Department’s major crimes unit.

The prosecutor’s investigation is expected to take at least one month to complete.

The investigation focuses on the Aug. 3 shooting of James Kevin Graham, 38, of Oxnard, who had a history of mental illness and minor narcotics offenses. The shooting occurred after two Oxnard police officers, Jim O’Brien and Martin Ennis, chased Graham’s car a short distance in an Oxnard residential neighborhood.

Graham was cornered in a tiny cul-de-sac on Tulsa Drive where, police said, he “became involved in a head-on collision” with Ennis’ patrol car.

According to police, O’Brien then pumped seven rounds from his 9-millimeter handgun into Graham’s car. Four rounds hit Graham, who was still in the driver’s seat, killing him instantly, according to the coroner.

O’Brien and Ennis were immediately placed on administrative leave, a routine action in an officer-involved fatal shooting.

Keith said Ennis will report back to work on Saturday. Keith said O’Brien will attend police training school for a week--a session scheduled before the fatal shooting--before he returns to regular patrol duty Aug. 24.

Holmes said several investigators have been assigned to the case, including those from the prosecutor’s office, the sheriff’s staff and an independent contractor.

“We’re pounding away at it,” Holmes said.