Officials now have a fuller picture of a shooting by a sheriff's deputy at a Fillmore wedding reception Saturday, and say that a man who returned to the event wielding a gun had earlier been tossed out of the party for being drunk and disruptive.
In addition, the 51-year-old victim, Tony Morales, is a former Fillmore police officer. He was mistakenly shot by a female deputy while he was scuffling with his inebriated son, Chad Morales, authorities said. The elder Morales remains in Santa Paula Memorial Hospital.
Witnesses said the 26-year-old son apparently had been asked to leave the party by a security guard after becoming extremely drunk, and returned to the reception with a weapon about 8:45 p.m, sheriff's spokesman Eric Nishimoto said. Chad Morales was confronted by his father, who asked him to leave.
Deputies had arrived when a shot was fired from the gun Chad Morales was holding. A female deputy, whom Nishimoto refused to identify, fired at the son after he allegedly pointed the gun at her, the spokesman said. The shot hit Tony Morales in the upper torso when his son allegedly pulled him into the line of fire, Nishimoto said.
