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 officers arriving at the family's apartment, Hockaday, who was wielding a knife and apparently advanced at the officers, was fatally shot by Garcia. The couple's three children were in the apartment at the time. They were subsequently evaluated by Child Protective Services and released to family.
