Flags flew at half-staff on government buildings Thursday to mourn a policeman shot to death by his SWAT team leader in the confusion of a drug raid.
"When a tragedy such as we have seen today occurs, it reminds us of the great debt that we all owe to these brave officers," said Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez.Former Salt Lake resident James Rex Jensen Jr., 30, of neighboring Ventura, was struck by blasts from a 12-gauge shotgun as a dozen officers swarmed a condominium shortly after 6 a.m. Wednesday.
"It was mistaken identity," said David Keith, a police spokesman.
The four-year veteran was pronounced dead less than 30 minutes later at a hospital.
Sgt. Daniel Christian, the 43-year-old raid commander who fired the fatal blast, was placed on paid leave. Colleagues described him as distraught. A department chaplain was assigned to console him.
The 18-year veteran joined the SWAT team in 1980.
The shooting was under investigation by the department and the Ventura County district attorney's office.
"I'm shocked, stunned and numb," said Cmdr. John Crom-bach, who oversees the department's Special Weapons and Tactics team. "These are two of the finest officers we have. That's what makes it so difficult to accept."
The raid on the home just off Channel Islands Boulevard near the Port Hueneme naval base was intended to arrest a federal drug suspect. Police believed three armed men might be inside, although it later turned out to be empty, authorities said.
Dressed in green fatigues and body armor, the SWAT officers stormed inside but found no one on the first floor. Jensen led a charge upstairs and fired a diversionary "flash-bang grenade" that produces a loud noise, smoke and blinding light.
Christian saw Jensen in an upstairs hallway, mistook him for a suspect and fired at least two shotgun rounds at close range, striking him in the left side of the chest.
At least one blast struck him in an unprotected shoulder area, police said.
Police Chief Harold Hurtt said, "In our type of business, we do not have much of a margin for error."
The raid was one of 16 in four western Ventura County cities that capped a two-year investigation into an alleged methamphetamine trafficking ring. More than 100 officers from various departments made 14 arrests, including the man the Oxnard SWAT unit was seeking.
Neighbors said drug dealing has been a problem in the area of the gated condominium complex.
"We've had drug problems quite a bit in the area," said neighbor Wendy Russell. "This is not the first time it's been raided for drugs."
It was the second time in three years an Oxnard policeman was killed in the line of duty. In December 1993, Detective James O'Brien was killed by a gunman who invaded a state unemployment office.
Jensen was survived by his wife, Jennifer, and two daughters, Katie, 3, and Lindsay, 5.
Funeral services were pending.
Jensen joined the U.S. Marine Corp in 1983 after graduating from East High. After leaving the military, he started with the Ventura County Sheriff's Department in 1989. He joined the Oxnard force in April 1992 and became a SWAT team member in June.
He also was active in the community and on Saturday had taken part in a baseball camp.
"Every bit of his time was given to helping someone else," said Mike Bocanegra, president of Oxnard's Sunset Little League.