Synopsis
The Ventura County Sheriff has released more information on the fatal Oaks Mall Shooting. Below is the information as the Sheriff released it, but in an effort to more easily understand what happened, here’s the synopsis of that report.
The report begins with that there had been domestic violence involving Kevin Crane and Parisa Siddiqi prior to the shooting. In 2014, the Ventura County District Attorney filed one count of misdemeanor domestic battery against Crane. In addition, the DA filed a petition to confiscate Crane’s handgun even though it was not involved in the domestic battery case.
Crane did not contest the handgun confiscation petition, and in November 2014, a judge ordered that the handgun be confiscated. When Siddiqi reportedly would not cooperate with investigators, and couldn’t be located to subpoena, the misdemeanor domestic battery was dismissed – but the judge’s confiscation order remained in place.
The DA’s Office received the confiscation order after it was issued in November of 2014. According to the Sheriff’s report, the District Attorney’s Office clerk sent a copy of the court order via inter-office mail to the sheriff’s office about the confiscation order. But, the Sheriff did NOT have a record of receiving notice of the confiscation order until October of 2015 (most of a year later).
At some point, Crane submitted a Law Enforcement Gun Release application to the California Department of Justice (DOJ) for the Glock .40-caliber handgun. At that time, Crane was no longer being prosecuted for domestic violence, and therefore, the State of California’s believed he was eligible to lawfully possess or purchase a gun. The California DOJ sent him a letter on March 3, 2015 declaring he was eligible to possess and/or purchase a firearm. Later in March, 2015, with the letter to back him up, Crane went to the East County Sheriff’s Station and the handgun was returned to him – as the Sheriff’s property room staff was unaware of the court’s order to confiscate the firearm.
The handgun released to Crane was the only gun registered to him. It was the same handgun used to murder Siddiqi in the Oaks Mall Shooting.
Investigators are working to determine why there was a lapse in time between the order being issued and the document being received. The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office and the District Attorney’s Office are reviewing the process and are taking steps to ensure this never happens again.
Details As Reported From Ventura County Sheriff’s Office
Nature of Incident: Updated Information on Oaks Mall Shooting
Report Number: 18-42756
Location: 190 W. Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks
Date & Time: March 17, 2018 @ 2:17 p.m.
Unit(s) Responsible: Thousand Oaks Police Department, Ventura County Sheriff’s Major Crimes Bureau
(S)uspects, (V)ictims, (P)arty, (D)ecedent City of Residence Age
(V) Siddiqi, Parisa, Thousand Oaks, 29
(S) Crane, Kevin, Thousand Oaks, 33
Narrative:
Detectives have been conducting an extensive follow-up investigation into all aspects of the shooting that occurred last Saturday at the Oaks Mall. There was one previous reported case of domestic violence involving Kevin Crane and Parisa Siddiqi.
In September 2014, deputies were called to a residence in Thousand Oaks to investigate a domestic disturbance involving the couple. Deputies concluded that Crane had battered Siddiqi during a dispute, and she suffered minor injuries as a result. Crane was arrested for felony domestic battery and booked into jail. During that investigation, deputies seized a Glock .40-caliber handgun and booked it in the sheriff’s property room for safekeeping. The handgun belonged to Kevin Crane, but it was not used during the domestic violence incident.
The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office filed one count of misdemeanor domestic battery against Crane. The DA’s Office also filed a petition to confiscate Crane’s handgun. Crane did not contest the petition, and in November 2014, a judge ordered that the handgun be confiscated. At that time, the gun was still being stored in the sheriff’s property room.
In January of 2015, the District Attorney’s Office dismissed the domestic violence case against Crane, because the victim, Parisa Siddiqi, would not cooperate with investigators and could not be located for service of a subpoena to appear in court. On an unknown date, Crane submitted a Law Enforcement Gun Release application to the California Department of Justice for the Glock handgun. On March 3, 2015, Crane received a letter from the DOJ that he was eligible to possess the firearm. Crane went to the East County Sheriff’s Station and the handgun was returned to him in March of 2015. At that time, Crane was no longer being prosecuted for domestic violence. Crane was eligible to lawfully purchase a gun at any time after receiving the March 3, 2015 letter from DOJ declaring he was eligible to possess a firearm.
The property room staff was unaware of the court’s order to confiscate the firearm at the time it was returned to Crane. Detectives learned the DA’s Office received the order after it was issued in November of 2014. A District Attorney’s Office clerk sent a copy of the court order via inter-office mail to the sheriff’s office. There is a record of the court order being received by the sheriff’s office in October of 2015. Inter-office mail has no system in place to track the sending of documents. Investigators are working to determine why there was a lapse in time between the order being issued and the document being received. The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office and the District Attorney’s Office are reviewing the process and are taking steps to ensure this never happens again. The handgun released to Crane was the only gun registered to him. It was the same handgun used to murder Siddiqi last Saturday.
Crane remains in critical condition at a local hospital with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The decision to arrest Crane will depend on whether he recovers from his injuries.