VENTURA COUNTY NEWS : Deputies Shoot, Injure Wanted Man : Standoff: Before incident, the convicted rapist had told his brother he would kill himself ‘or get a cop to do it,’ a sheriff’s spokesman says.

FILLMORE — A convicted rapist sought in the beating and attempted sexual assault of a 70-year-old Oxnard woman was hospitalized after being shot by sheriff’s deputies early Tuesday during a standoff at a Fillmore grocery store parking lot, authorities said.

Shortly before he was shot, 42-year-old Joe Jaramillo had called his brother and said he wanted to die, said sheriff’s spokesman Eric Nishimoto.

“He called his brother and said he was tired of running and that he didn’t want to go back to jail,” Nishimoto said. “He threatened suicide and said he would either kill himself or get a cop to do it.”

During the standoff, Jaramillo said he had a gun and threatened to shoot himself or deputies, authorities said.

But Nishimoto said later that Jaramillo was armed only with a 10-inch butcher knife. “We had every reason to believe he had a gun,” Nishimoto said. “He was acting like it and telling us he had one.”

Jaramillo, an Oxnard resident, was in critical but stable condition Tuesday night in the intensive care unit at Santa Paula Memorial Hospital. A nursing supervisor said he had undergone surgery for gunshot wounds.

Nishimoto refused to say how many times Jaramillo was shot, but a statement issued by authorities indicates that more than one deputy fired at Jaramillo.

During the standoff, deputies were armed with department-issued shotguns and 9-millimeter pistols, Nishimoto said.

The incident started when employees at two gas stations in Fillmore called 911 between 3:30 and 3:45 a.m., saying Jaramillo had walked into their businesses and claimed to be a wanted man.

Authorities later learned from Jaramillo’s brother about the suspect’s phone call to him.

Deputies found Jaramillo in front of a Vons grocery store on the east end of Fillmore off California 126.

At 5 a.m., after more than an hour of keeping deputies at bay, Jaramillo was shot several times with less-than-lethal rubber bullets, Nishimoto said.

The rubber rounds knocked Jaramillo to the ground, but he got up and continued to threaten deputies, Nishimoto said. More rubber rounds, as well as live rounds, were then fired at Jaramillo, Nishimoto said.

Deputies who were at the scene were being questioned by detectives Tuesday, and Nishimoto said those involved would be placed on paid administrative leave, as is standard in incidents involving shooting.

Jaramillo will stay at Santa Paula Hospital until he is well enough to be transferred to the County Jail’s medical facility in Ventura.

He is under arrest on suspicion of attempted rape and will be arraigned when he is healthier, authorities said, adding that there may be additional charges stemming from the standoff.

Jaramillo, who was paroled from prison last year after serving 11 years of a 22-year sentence for rape, forcible oral copulation and burglary, was the subject of an arrest warrant that was issued after an attempted rape on July 10, state and local authorities said.

On that date, Jaramillo allegedly went to the victim’s house in Oxnard and told her that a garden hose was flooding her backyard, said Oxnard Police Det. Bruce Reed.

While the victim checked the hose, Jaramillo slipped inside the house, Reed said. When the woman returned inside, she was attacked in her bedroom, Reed said.

The woman suffered choke marks on her neck and bruising on her face and arms, Reed said. She was able to break free and escape before the rape occurred.

“He took off, and we’ve been looking for him ever since,” Reed said.

Reed said Jaramillo had been living with his parents in Oxnard since being paroled, but left the area in recent weeks.