Police Shoot, Kill Mentally Ill Man During Struggle

VENTURA — During a sidewalk struggle, police on Saturday morning shot and killed a mentally ill Ventura man who had been darting in and out of traffic outside the 101 Drive-In.

William Anthony Ramos, 29, was shot several times in the chest and upper body during the scuffle with two Ventura police officers. One officer was wounded in the hand.

Ramos died at Community Memorial Hospital after nearly an hour of emergency treatment, a coroner’s official said.

Police would not say whether Ramos was armed or how the officer was shot.

Shortly after the shooting, family members said they had repeatedly called police Friday, asking that Ramos be taken into protective custody because he had stopped taking his medication. Relatives described him as a paranoid schizophrenic. Police declined to say if they had received such calls.

The Saturday incident began when one officer, responding to a radio call of a man wandering in traffic, found Ramos in the 4800 block of Telephone Road. Within moments, a second officer arrived at the scene, just blocks from Ventura police headquarters.

“There was some type of a confrontation,” Lt. Carl Handy said. “During the struggle, the suspect was shot. He was taken to [the] hospital, where he died. . . . It’s a real tragedy.”

The injured officer was listed in good condition at Ventura County Medical Center.

Both officers involved in the incident are seasoned veterans of the force, Handy said. According to department policy, both probably will be placed on paid administrative leave while the shooting is investigated.

Police on Saturday declined to name the officers involved or the shooting victim, who family members and the coroner’s office identified.

Handy would not say whether police knew the dark-haired man, who family members say was inclined to roam the streets when he stopped taking his medication.

But distraught family members said Ramos for years had been shuttled between mental hospitals and jail, and had begun taking drugs.

The latest trouble began for Ramos--the youngest of seven siblings--Thursday night, said older sister Cindee Ramos, 36. Worried that their brother was off his medication and high on speed, Cindee Ramos said she and her sisters called Ventura police repeatedly Friday afternoon, asking that he be placed in a psychiatric hospital, after he started marching the streets of central Ventura--arms to the heavens--bellowing Bible passages.

Under the California Welfare and Institutions Code, mentally ill people can be hospitalized for 72 hours for evaluation and treatment if they are unable to provide for basic needs, including food and shelter, or if they are a danger to themselves or others, mental health experts say. Hospitalization can be extended for 14 days if necessary. That three-day hospitalization was what family members were seeking, Cindee Ramos said.

Police “said he was just fine and wasn’t any threat, and now he’s dead,” she said outside the drive-in.

“All I keep thinking is that if they had taken him in yesterday like they should have, Billy would be alive right now.”

Tears in her eyes, Ramos questioned the officers’ use of force. “Why didn’t they put handcuffs on him or shoot him in the foot?” she asked. “Why did they have to shoot him three times in the chest? He’s never, never hurt anybody.”

Ramos said her brother’s illness spanned at least seven years but was controllable with medicine. He reportedly had been treated many times at Ventura County Mental Health Services.

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Ramos’ mother, Reba Cauldillo, cared for her sometimes manic, sometimes depressed son at home, first in Orange County, then in Ventura, until her death in December 1995. Since then, Billy had lived with another sister in the Imperial Mobile Home on Hearst Avenue, according to Cindee Ramos.

His mother’s death crushed Billy Ramos, a jokester and fishing enthusiast who loved singing and playing with his nieces and nephews. Even though he was on Social Security disability insurance, Billy was worried about the less fortunate, she said, often giving his shoes, shirts, jackets and money to homeless people.

“He’s the baby of the family, and even though he had all these problems, we loved him so much,” she said.

While the family mourned, police and coroner’s officials investigated the circumstances of the shooting. An autopsy is scheduled for today.

A coroner’s official said Saturday that paramedics and doctors struggled to save Ramos.

“They worked on him profusely at the hospital,” the official said. “They really tried. I’m just amazed at their efforts.”

In the days ahead, police and others probably will conduct three investigations into the shooting, Handy said. In addition to a routine inquiry into the incident, there will be an administrative investigation into the use of deadly force.

The district attorney’s office may also look into officer-involved shootings.

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Confrontations between police and the mentally ill--particularly paranoid schizophrenics--are often difficult, said Clyde Reynolds, the executive director of Turning Point Foundation, a social service organization that assists the mentally ill.

By definition, paranoid schizophrenics feel threatened by authority figures. They worry that people are out to get them or hurt them, Reynolds said. They often hear voices. But with the help of anti-psychotic drugs, symptoms can be dramatically reduced, allowing people with paranoid schizophrenia to live relatively normal, productive lives. About 25% to 30% of the mentally ill live with family members, Reynolds said.

“It’s a very difficult situation,” he said. “From my perspective, a certain amount of caution needs to be taken in dealing with an individual who is pretty symptomatic or out of control.”

A schizophrenic can appear calm one moment and fly into a rage the next, Reynolds said. If police were called to check on Ramos the day before the shooting, he could have appeared fine and later deteriorated.

“When this happens, it’s a tragedy, and we all want to know if it could have been avoided.”

To help police work with the mentally ill, the county has a 20-member Mental Health Crisis and Emergency Team, which is called in to defuse potentially violent situations such as suicide attempts and spousal abuse. A Ventura County Grand Jury report last year said the Ventura Police Department uses the team--whose mental health workers are on call 24 hours a day--more than other local police agencies.

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Handy declined to say whether the crisis team was called before the shooting Saturday.

Folmar is a staff writer and Metcalfe is a correspondent. Correspondent Scott Steepleton also contributed to this report.