Police kill gun-wielding man

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

Police officers shot and killed a 24-year-old man in downtown Santa Barbara Friday night after he pulled out a handgun and began pointing it at people, police officials said.
Wilfred A. Turner, of Oxnard, had been fighting with another Oxnard man in front of the Habit Burger Grill on State Street when he pulled a .45-caliber automatic handgun from his cargo pants pocket, authorities said. Two SBPD officers on their way to break up the fight fired numerous rounds, killing Turner at the scene, police said.

Police Spokesman Lt. Paul McCaffrey said Turner had a muddied history with the other man involved in the altercation, having argued and fought with him before.
“There was pre-existing bad blood ... over allegations that the other man had been romantically involved with Turner’s 20-year-old wife,” McCaffrey said.
Hundreds of people were in the area for the Fiesta celebration, police said, but no one else was injured. A bullet or ricochet fragment may have flattened the tire of a nearby taxicab, McCaffrey added.
Officers recovered Turner’s handgun, which proved to be loaded, authorities said. Police cordoned off the area between Cota and Ortega streets and took statements from numerous law enforcement and citizen witnesses.
Authorities said Turner drove from Oxnard to Santa Barbara with two friends, both men, and parked at the Bank of America parking lot at 834 State St. At 11:50 p.m., as they walked downtown, they encountered a group of at least three other men and a 16-year-old girl. As Turner and his foe grappled, other people in the groups started fighting as well, McCaffrey said.
Police took Mark Anthony Smith, 22; Terence Ruben, 24; and Randall Leon Johnson, 23, into custody for fighting in public. A search of Johnson’s Chevrolet pickup truck, which Turner’s group drove in to Santa Barbara, turned up another handgun, McCaffrey said, adding that Johnson was also charged with possession of a concealed firearm.
Authorities said Turner and his friends were servicemen in the U.S. Navy stationed in Port Hueneme, and according to Naval sources, Turner left the service last June.
In addition to shattering the peace of what had until then been a relatively calm and incident-free Fiesta, the shooting also altered the route of Fiesta’s Desfile de Los Ninos, a parade of traditionally costumed children down State Street. Authorities shortened the route, which normally runs from Victoria Street to Ortega Street, to end at Canon Perdido Street instead.
“The uncertainty over when the shooting scene would be open led to the changed parade route,” McCaffrey said. “Another factor in deciding to shorten the parade route was concern over fallen ash from the Zaca Lake Fire. Many parents believed a shortened parade route exposed their children to less risk.”
The two officers who shot and killed Turner had been on a Fiesta beat patrol when they witnessed the fight, authorities said, and are now on administrative leave until an investigation into the incident is complete.