Suspect arrested for killing roommate at Southern California nursing home

Officers arrested a man suspected of killing his roommate at a nursing home in Ventura County, authorities announced on Saturday.

Thousand Oaks Police responded to a 4:40 a.m. call for service on Friday, Nov. 1, regarding an agitated resident at a long-term care facility on Warwick Avenue. The VC Star reported the facility is called Silverado Memory Care.

The caller said this resident had broken a window and was possibly injured, and that he was also preventing staff from the treatment center from approaching him.

Deputies arrived and detained the man in a common area of the nursing home. The resident was identified as Thomas Buckley, 58, of Thousand Oaks.

During Buckley’s detainment, Silverado staff members went to check on his roommate, Michael Patterson, 72, also of Thousand Oaks.

They found Patterson in his and Buckley’s assigned room and noticed he had severe injuries caused by a suspected assault. The police report did not expand further on the specificities of the injuries or where they were located on Patterson.

First responders were called to the scene and ultimately pronounced the roommate deceased.

Investigators later arrived and discovered that before law enforcement’s arrival, Buckley had assaulted a facility staff member, causing minor injury to them.

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said this incident is currently under investigation as a homicide, and that an autopsy is pending to determine the official cause and manner of death.

Officers arrested and booked Buckley for murder, assault with a deadly weapon and vandalism. He’s being held on $2 million bail as he awaits his arraignment scheduled for Nov. 5 in Ventura.

As this is an active and ongoing homicide investigation, detectives encourage anyone who has information regarding this incident to contact Detective Gerardo Cruz at 805-384-4726 or Detective Erik Hernandez at 805-384-4729.