SHARE CONTRIBUTED PHOTO More recent photo of Brandon Ellis, 29, wanted by Ventura police in a double shooting Thursday morning that left a man dead and a woman with life-threatening injuries. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/VENTURA POLICE DEPARTMENT Brandon Ellis, 29, a suspect in a fatal double shooting Thursday in Ventura. MIKE HARRIS/THE STAR Ventura police were investigating a double shooting Thursday morning in the 1600 block of Tapir Circle. MIKE HARRIS/THE STAR Ventura police were investigating a double shooting Thursday morning in the 1600 block of Tapir Circle.

By Staff Reports

A 47-year-old man was killed Thursday morning and a woman seriously injured in a double shooting in east Ventura, and the suspect was still at large, police said.

The shootings occurred about 8:30 a.m. in the 1600 block of Tapir Circle, at the Todd Ranch condominiums. The man was fatally shot, and the woman, 20, suffered life-threatening injuries, Ventura police reported.

Police identified the suspect as Brandon Ellis, 29, who remains at large. A helicopter was used to help search for Ellis, who has a prior conviction for robbery and assault with a deadly weapon,

The victims' names had not been released.

The motive for the shootings was unclear, but police said there were other people in the condominium at the time who were not harmed.

According to Ventura police Cmdr. Tom Higgins, police received a 911 call about 8:30 a.m. from the woman. She met officers outside and had been shot multiple times, Higgins said.

She was rushed to Ventura County Medical Center in Ventura and was undergoing surgery for life-threatening injuries, he said. Police said later Thursday that she was expected to live.

Inside the residence, police found the man dead from gunshot wounds. His relationship to the woman was unclear.

Another woman and a 16-month-old child were found uninjured in the residence, Higgins said.

Ellis, who should be considered armed and dangerous, was possibly driving a yellow Penske box truck, police said.

He was described as white, 6 feet 1 inch, 200 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Police also were looking for a vehicle he uses — a black 2005 Chevy pickup with license plate number 8T67122 — even though it was not spotted at the crime scene, Higgins said.

Police said they were not looking for any additional suspects, and the area around the shooting was now safe.

They earlier had posted on social media that Ralston Street, Ramelli Avenue and Johnson Drive were closed in the area "for police activity." They asked people to avoid the area and report suspicious activity to 650-8010.

As a precaution, Portola School — about a mile from the scene — was briefly locked down Thursday morning. Ventura police gave the OK for the lockdown to be lifted shortly after 10 a.m., school officials said.

A handful of bystanders milled around across the street from the condominium complex late Thursday morning. They said they heard no gunshots or saw anything suspicious earlier in the morning.

One of them, Thinh Pham, 42, said he considers the neighborhood he's lived in since 1984 to be a safe one.

"Definitely," he said. "We've never had anything like this before."

Other residents drove up in their cars, saw all the police and expressed shock when told of the double shooting.

Ellis pleaded guilty in 2004 to felony second-degree robbery and assault with a deadly weapon and admitted a special enhancement of use of a deadly weapon. He was sentenced by a Ventura County Superior Court judge to four years in state prison.

The court also found Ellis had "a history of drug abuse, was convicted of a drug offense or was under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance at the time of the commission of the offense" and recommended he participate in a counseling or educational program, records show.

The convictions stemmed from a March 30, 2004, robbery in Oak View. Ellis, an 18-year-old Ojai resident at the time, and two others walked into a market, beat a store employee and the owner with a large stick, pulled out a gun and took an undisclosed amount of cash, according to news reports at the time.

After his release from prison, Ellis had a clean record in Ventura County except for several traffic violations.

Staff writers Cheri Carlson and Cindy Von Quednow contributed to this report.