Man in critical condition after police-involved shooting in Thousand Oaks

Updated at 1 p.m. June 30:

A The 37-year-old man was in critical but stable condition following an altercation Sunday morning with Ventura County sheriff's deputies that resulted in a deputy shooting the man, according to a VCSO spokesperson.

The man's name has not yet been released.

The shooting happened shortly after officers responded to a 911 call near Erbes Road and Avenida de los Arboles in Thousand Oaks around 6:50 a.m. on June 30.

The sheriff's office has not yet released details about what led to the shooting; however, VCSO Public Information Officer Senerey De Los Santos told the Acorn newspaper that only one deputy was involved in the shooting. A knife was found at the scene, she said via social media.

Londyn Nordhoff, a Thousand Oaks resident, was walking to a store at the Oakbrook Plaza shopping center located at Erbes and Avenida de los Arboles when the incident occurred.

“When I got to Vons and got out of the car, everybody in the parking lot was looking toward Erbes Road,” Nordhoff said. “They were saying the police were chasing Chewbacca and yelling, 'Run, Forrest, run.'”

The situation had become much more serious by the time she left the grocery store.

“I went in and came out and now everyone is looking at Arboles,” she said.

She also looked in that direction and saw a man wearing some kind of white scarf on his head and holding a white triangular object.

“It didn’t look like a knife or a gun,” she said. “It looked like those plastic (PVC) pipes, but in a triangle shape.”

She said its height was roughly equivalent to the man's upper torso.

“It looked like the size of a help wanted sign that you see on the side of the street,” Nordhoff said.

“All of a sudden you hear several sirens. Before that, it had been quiet, with just lights, and then you hear, 'Back up, back up, let it go,'” she said. “They certainly told him that several times.”

That's when she heard what she believes were about six gunshots, separated by a short pause between the first two and the rest.

VCSO personnel at the scene of the investigation said the deputy involved did not suffer any physical injuries.

As of midday Sunday, Sheriff's Office personnel were still on scene investigating.

The Acorn will update this story as details become available.