Location Oxnard, California Outcome Under investigation | Deaths 1 Name Shooting Meagan | |
Date March 28, 2015 (2015-03-28) Participants Meagan Hockaday
Roger Garcia (Oxnard Police Department officer) | ||
Meagan Hockaday was a 26-year-old African American resident of Oxnard, California who was shot and killed by police officer Roger Garcia in the early morning of Saturday, March 28, 2015.
Contents
Garcia responded to a 911 call made by Hockaday's fiancé, Luis Morado, reporting a domestic dispute at The Timbers, an apartment complex in Oxnard. Within twenty seconds of arriving at the family's apartment, Hockaday apparently advanced at the officers with a knife, and Garcia had fatally shot Hockaday. The couple's three children were in the apartment at the time, they were subsequently evaluated by Child Protective Services and released to family.
Investigation
While the case remains under investigation, Roger Garcia has been placed on administrative leave. As is standard with officer-involved shootings, the Oxnard Police Department will complete an investigation that will then be submitted to Ventura County District Attorney's Office. Following this, the District Attorney's Office will conduct its own investigation. A second officer who responded to the call with Garcia remains on duty. Garcia's name was released the Tuesday following the shooting, along with the 911 call made by Morado. Roger Garcia was involved in another, non-fatal, shooting of an Oxnard resident in February 2014. He had reportedly completed Crisis Intervention Team training after the February shooting.
News coverage
The case was covered by local newspapers, and national magazines and entertainment outlets that are directed toward African American markets, such as Ebony and BET. The #SayHerName protest, created to raise awareness about police shootings of African American women and girls, renewed interest in Hockaday's case. Her death was mentioned in The Nation, Boing Boing, The Independent, and RT.
Protests
On April 11, 2015, a peaceful march in honor of Meagan Hockaday took place primarily on Oxnard Boulevard. The march was broken up by police for disrupting traffic at the intersection of Oxnard Boulevard and Vineyard Avenue. A vigil was also held to commemorate Hockaday on the one-month anniversary of her death on April 28, 2015. It coincided with an Oxnard City Council meeting where supporters of Hockaday spoke out against police brutality in Oxnard. Speakers included Meagan Hockaday's sister. A benefit concert for Hockaday's family was held in Oxnard on May 9, 2015. Meagan Hockaday's name has also been included in lists of black women killed by police, read out during protests connected to the Black Lives Matter movement.