Site of Rampage Returning to Normal : Aftermath: Oxnard office where gunman went on a shooting spree is newly remodeled, but some workers haven’t returned.

Nearly a month after a gunman went on a deadly shooting spree at the Oxnard unemployment department, the newly remodeled office is slowly returning to normal.

Seventeen of the office’s 50 full-time employees have returned to work, including some who hid under desks when gunfire erupted at the jobs office on Dec. 2.

Unemployed computer engineer Alan Winterbourne shot three people to death and wounded four others inside the North C Street office. He later killed an Oxnard police detective before being shot dead himself.

“He shot anything that moved or made a noise,” said Bobbie Espinoza, who crouched underneath her desk and only caught a glimpse of the gunman’s long beard as he stalked through the office in search of victims. “I thought my heart was pumping too loud. I could hear his footsteps, the whole office was so still.”

On Friday--two days shy of the one month anniversary of the deadliest shooting spree in Ventura County history--the office showed obvious signs of the early December rampage.

Bulletproof glass was erected last weekend across a long wooden counter that had no barrier before. Full walls have replaced waist-high partitions that used to separate clients from employees.

Office doors, including the gate that Winterbourne kicked open when he started shooting, have been replaced and reinforced with steel.

Still, about two-thirds of the office’s regular employees have not returned to work, state officials say. Four of the office workers are recovering from gunshot wounds.

Others simply are not ready to return to the scene of the deadly rampage.

“Many of the workers are still reliving some of the things that happened that day,” said Mary Jane Reid, a counter supervisor at the office who was home with the flu the day of the shooting. “If you can make the first step through the front door, that’s a big step.”

A dozen of the employees have filed workers’ compensation claims, indicating that they will be off work for an extended period of time, said Anita Grandrath Gore, spokeswoman for the state Employment Development Department in Sacramento.

No one has quit, but a handful of workers are pursuing transfers to other state offices, Gore said.

Because only 17 of the regular employees are back on the job, the office is being staffed by about 20 workers from other employment offices.

In addition, a half-dozen unpaid volunteers from a local job training program are doing clerical work and acting as Spanish-language interpreters at the office.

Maria Fuentes, a 24-year-old student at the Center for Employment Training in Oxnard, eagerly volunteered to help out at the jobs office. For the past two weeks, she has served as a link between Spanish-speaking clients and English-speaking employees recruited from other offices to pick up the workload.

In addition, she is doing secretarial work and learning how to operate the switchboard.

“People here miss the other employees, they miss their partners,” Fuentes said. “It is very sad in here since the tragedy. You can feel the spirit; it is very quiet.”

Added volunteer Jovita Zeppeiro of Camarillo: “I have heard that there are a lot of people who aren’t coming back, at least not for a long, long time.”

Although short-staffed, the Oxnard office continues to offer a full range of services. Under the watch of armed security guards and state police, job seekers filled the office lobby Friday morning.

Shortly before noon, Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez visited the office for the first time since the shooting. His wife, Irma, a 20-year EDD employee, was shot in the back while fleeing from the gunman. She is recovering at home.

Employees escorted the mayor around the office, retracing the gunman’s steps. Thirteen employees were out sick that day, Lopez was told, and another dozen were away from the office for various reasons.

“I think he came here wanting to die,” Lopez said. “He knew this was his day.”

Addressing a promise made a week after the shootings, state employment officials said they are two to three weeks away from signing a lease at another office where they plan to relocate employees.

Once a lease is signed, Gore said it will take 30 to 90 days to move workers to the new location.

“I think for the well-being of the staff we need to move,” Reid said.

State officials say they are unsure whether all of the office workers ever will return. One employee, visiting for the second time since the shooting, brought in her two daughters Friday in an effort to re-acclimate herself.

The worker told supervisors that perhaps she will return for good next week.

“We’re waiting for employees to come back at their own pace,” office manager Avelina Villalobos said. “I think that under the circumstances, the staff needs to feel safe and ready to come back.”