Todo Poder al Pueblo has learned* that the killer of young Meagan Hockaday is Senior Officer Roger Garcia, an 8-yr. veteran of the Oxnard Police Department (OPD). Officer Garcia was responding to a call regarding a domestic dispute at approximately 1:00 am on Saturday, March 28, 2015.
Meagan’s boyfriend/partner, Luis Morado, had called 911 to seek assistance for her, as she was in a state of distress – struggling with depression while under the influence of alcohol. Luis had been holding her down on the ground before Officer Garcia arrived, and she had just barely lifted herself up from the floor and approached the entrance to her home, knife in hand (from the previous altercation with her boyfriend), before Garcia began opening fire on her. Meagan Hockaday died later that morning from multiple gunshot wounds. According to the OPD, Garcia fired upon Hockaday 4 to 5 times within 20 seconds of their encounter. The couple’s three daughters – 7 months old, 2 years old, and 4 years old – were all present at the time. Meagan Hockaday has been described as having a “tiny” stature, weighing approximately 120 lbs. with a height of about 5 ft., 3 inches. She was a stay-at-home mom with no criminal record.
Officer Garcia had also previously used his alleged training as a Crisis Intervention Specialist (CIS) in the February 5, 2014 shooting of Rosa “Chita” Guillen at Oxnard’s Del Sol Park. Guillen was also in a distressed state, and according to her she called a suicide crisis hotline for help due to depression following her mother’s death. A Colonia resident, she informed the dispatcher that she was carrying small toy guns (a means to potentially intimidate street harassers while “on a budget”). When officers responded to the call she was fired upon, from a distance, 36 times. According to Guillen, Officer Garcia was the first to initiate fire. Guillen miraculously survived and is now disabled.
Meagan Hockaday’s death is the latest tragic episode of “shoot first, ask questions later” – a scenario known well to Oxnard residents, especially following the October 13, 2012 killing of innocent bystander Alfonso Limon, Jr. It’s also another case of officers who are allegedly “trained” to carry out social work and crisis intervention, yet only know how to respond with deadly, brute force – as the families of Michael Mahoney and Robert Ramirez found out when their son’s lives were also robbed from them in 2012. (source)