Ventura Police Log

Our recent theme showed up late last week in Ventura, as reported by the LA Times:

Shortly before 1 a.m., emergency dispatchers received a call from Lydia Wells, 30, who whispered that she was calling from her bedroom after being shot between the temple and cheek by her spouse, Kareem Wells, 33.

"The victim says, 'I've been shot in the head…. I'm dying,' " Ventura Police Sgt. Jack Richards said. "She said her husband had shot her in the head. She thought he had left on foot or in the car."

Within minutes, squad cars arrived at the tri-level residence in the 200 block of Donner Avenue. Richards said the first officers on the scene found four minors in the house: Lydia Wells' 17-year-old sister; the couple's two daughters, ages 11 and 2; and a son, 3. Richards said the children apparently had not heard gunfire. Shortly after officers gained entry, a single gunshot was heard in the garage, and authorities rushed to get the four children away from the house.

According to police accounts, about half a dozen officers inside the house kept their guns drawn on the garage door and called in SWAT units, while others searched the second floor, where they found Lydia Wells lying bloody and unconscious in a bedroom.

Officers carried her to a patrol car, which took her to an ambulance a block away. She was taken to Ventura County Medical Center in critical condition.

About an hour after the SWAT teams arrived, an officer reported spotting what appeared to be a man lying inside the garage. When officers entered, they found Kareem Wells' body and determined that he had died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.