2 SLAIN, 1 WOUNDED IN THOUSAND OAKS.

Byline: Phillip W. Browne Staff Writer

THOUSAND OAKS - A man and woman were shot to death and another man was wounded critically in a triple shooting Monday afternoon.

Ventura County sheriff's deputies were called to a house in the 1700 block of Montgomery Road at the corner of Pickwick Court at 4:05 p.m. Sunday on a report of a shooting, said Capt. Tom Convery.

There officers found a woman in her 40s dead in the front yard, said Eric Nishimoto, a spokesman for the Ventura County Sheriff's Department.

Two other men, one in his 40s and the other of an unknown age, who were also shot outside the house, were transported to Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center, where the man in his 40s was pronounced dead. The other man remained in critical condition Monday night.

Nishimoto said the shooter fled the scene in a white Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck with fencing material in the back. The gunman abandoned the vehicle, which had a 12-pack of Newcastle beer on the front seat, in a supermarket parking lot in the 1700 block of Moorpark Road. He then reportedly carjacked a white 1999 Ford F150 pickup truck with the license plate 6E30786.

The man remained at large late Monday night.

``This is a very safe and quiet neighborhood in one of the safest cities in America,'' said Nishimoto, who, until about five years ago, lived one block west of the shooting site.

``It's older homes, bigger lots, lot of horse properties around here. Usually pretty idyllic. We don't have many shootings in Thousand Oaks, much less triples.''

Located 12 miles from the Pacific Ocean, Thousand Oaks, a community of about 125,000 people, is regularly voted one of the safest communities in the nation for its size.

Christina Leverentz, who lives on Montgomery, heard several gunshots and saw the gunman run to a white pickup that was parked right in front of her house.

``He was a young man, but I didn't see a gun,'' she said. ``But I knew it was him. This is horrible. This is supposed to be the safest city in the nation.''

Jason Neally was working on sprinklers in his front yard when he heard four or five shots down the street.

``I ran over, and the lady was face down on the lawn,'' Neally said. ``And there was a man shot in the chest. He was conscious, but he didn't look good. Then there was another man, and a bunch of neighbors were doing CPR on him. This whole thing is crazy.''

Mike Bialeck of Los Angeles was visiting a friend for a Memorial Day gathering when he heard the series of gunshots.

``I heard the first pop, then heard a woman scream, and then I heard several more pops,'' Bialeck said.

Staff Writer Lisa M. Sodders contributed to this report.

Phillip W. Browne, [phone]

phillip.browne(at)dailynews.com