warning civilians to clear out, while hamas forces them back. allowing in food and water, which hamas steals. abortion, marijuana and state control. all of that and more on the line today as americans hit the polls in several key states across the country. and the results on this election day could provide some big clues about 2024. >> plus, one month of death and destruction with no end in sight. now the israeli prime minister says israel will maintain control of gaza indefinitely. and a key battle going before the supreme court as justices revisit a landmark case. we are following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to "cnn news central". we want to take you straight to california where ventura county sheriff's deputies are giving an update on the jewish protester who died after suffering a head injury following an altercation during a protest. let's listen. >> good morning, everyone, and thank you for being here. this morning as your sheriff of ventura county it is with a heavy heart that i stand before you here today to address this tragic incident that has occurred in our community. i want to express my deepest condolences to the family and friends of the victim, who lost his life in this unfortunate event. our thoughts and prayers are with them during this very difficult time. as law enforcement officers our primary duty is to protect and serve the community. we take this responsibility very seriously and we are committed to investigating this matter to the fullest and finding out what exactly occurred. we're working tirelessly to gather all the facts and evidence related to this incident. and we will do everything in our power using every resource we have at our disposal to make sense of this incident. and if criminal wrongdoing is covered to bring the person or persons responsible to justice. i would like to thank the members of the media for being here today. your role in keeping the community informed is critical. we appreciate your cooperation and support during this difficult time. we will do our best to provide you with accurate and timely information and updates as they become available. i will now tell you what we know and keep in mind this investigation is ongoing and fluid. so i will refrain from providing conjecture. i will state the facts as we know them at this point in time. on november 5th, 2023 at approximately 3:20 in the evening the sheriff's communication center received multiple calls regarding a possible assault and an unconscious male who was bleeding at the intersection of thousand oaks boulevard and westlake boulevard in the city of thousand oaks. the callers advised the incident was related to a rally or demonstration that was occurring at the location. flyers distributed on social media indicated a demonstration for freedom for palestine protest and a counterprotest was led by we are pro israel. there were an estimated 75 to 100 people at the demonstration between both groups. three patrol deputies were dispatched code green meaning with their lights and siren to the scene along with medics and paramedics to the ventura county fire department and american medical response. soon after two fa troel sergeants along with two additional deputies responded to the scene. at 3:2-22 p.m. one of our patrol sergeants arrived on scene. at 3:24 p.m. two additional patrol deputies arrived on scene. the sergeant contacted the victim, identified as 69-year-old paul kessler, a thousand oaks resident, who was lying on the ground. mr. kessler was conscious and responsive. the sergeant observed what he saw was bleeding from the head and mouth. medical personnel from the ventura county fire department arrived on the scene and began providing aid to mr. kessler. mr. kessler was then transported to a local hospital by paramedics for advanced medical treatment. mr. kessler remained conscious while being transported to the hospital. the suspect was identified, willingly remained at the scene, and was interviewed by deputies. the suspect was cooperative and indicated he was involved in an altercation with mr. kessler. the suspect further stated that he was one of the reporting parties who called 911 requesting medical attention for mr. kessler. several witnesses were contacted at the northwest corner of the intersection where the shell gas station is located. and they were interviewed. these witnesses providing conflicting statements about what the altercation and who the aggressor was. some of the witnesses were pro palestine while others were pro israel. during the investigation at the scene deputies determined that the altercation with mr. kessler, he fell backward and struck his head on the ground. what exactly transpired prior to mr. kessler falling backward isn't crystal clear right now. at 4:02 p.m. a deputy and sergeant arrived at los robles hospital where mr. kessler was being treated. soon after the deputies still at westlake boulevard and thousand oaks cleared the scene. mr. kessler was listed as being in critical condition by los robles hospital staff. however, he was still conscious when contacted by deputies at the hospital. at 5:32 p.m. the deputies at the hospital cleared the call and documented the incident pending follow-up investigation by detectives from the thousand oaks police department. on november 6th at approximately 2:43 a.m. the sheriff's communication center received a call from the hospital staff in reference to the earlier incident involving mr. kessler. at 2:53 a patrol deputy and sergeant arrived at the hospital and were told that mr. kessler had succumbed to his injuries. at 3:00 a.m. investigators from the major crimes bureau were notified of the circumstances surrounding mr. kessler's death, and they immediately launched an investigation. the ventura county medical examiner's office was also notified and sent an investigator to the hospital. mr. kessler's body was later transported to the ventura county medical examiner's office where a subsequent autopsy was performed. i will defer any comments regarding the autopsy results to chief medical examiner for the ventura county medical examiner's office dr. young, who will provide a statement shortly. yesterday afternoon detectives obtained a search warrant for the suspect and the suspect's residence. at 4:58 p.m. detectives conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle driven by the suspect in the city of simi valley. the suspect was detained and until the completion of the search warrant and he was released at 6:15 p.m. during the detention of the suspect detectives executed a search warrant at the suspect's residence in the city of moorpark. i cannot comment on the results of that search warrant as the investigation is ongoing. investigators have not ruled out the possibility of a hate crime, and this is being investigated as a homicide. investigators from the sheriff's major crimes bureau and the thousand oaks investigations bureau are committed to continuing to locate and interview witnesses to the event or individuals who were present or nearby that might have helpful information to provide. it is our understanding that mr. kessler, a u.s. citizen who practices the jewish faith, was at the event supporting israel. the suspect in this case is a 50-year-old who resides in moorpark and was at the intersection advocating for palestine. we understand that the war in israel and gaza has led to an increase in hateful and threatening rhetoric, and we want to assure the muslim and jewish communities that we stand with them both during this difficult time. the ventura county sheriff's office remains committed to protecting the rights and safety of all members of our community regardless of their race, religion or ethnicity. to this end we have increased patrols around mosques and our muslim community centers and jewish houses of worship. we also are working closely with our religious leaders in our community to provide support and assistance as needed. the ventura county sheriff's office and law enforcement in general play a critical role in preserving people's fundamental right to peaceably assemble and in facilitating demonstrators' safety and security as they exercise their first amendment rights. the ventura county sheriff's office is requesting assistance from the public regarding the ongoing investigation. anyone who witnessed or has knowledge of the incident or who was present at the demonstration is encouraged to contact our agency. we have provided the media with a release, with the contact information for our investigative unit as well as our press information officer team. those who wish to remain anonymous can certainly do so by contacting crimestoppers at 1-800-222-tips or 8477. those who may anybody possession of video footage or photographs of this incident can also remain anonymous by using the link we've provided to the media here today. during this time we urge you to remain calm, peaceful and patient. we understand that you may have questions and concerns but we ask you to allow us to conduct our investigation, and we will provide updates as soon as we can. we also ask that you refrain from spreading rumors or spreading misinformation on social media or other platforms as that can not only hinder our investigation but it can cause unnecessary panic in our community. in conclusion i want to reiterate that safety and well-being of our members and our community are of utmost concern to us. we will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that everyone, no matter your faith or religion, feels safe. we appreciate your cooperation and support during this difficult time. and now i'd like to introduce the chief medical examiner of ventura county, dr. christopher young. >> good morning. dr. young, chief medical examiner for ventura county. the death investigation is also ongoing. the -- the death of this 69-year-old, paul kessler was admitted to los robles regional medical center on november 5th at 15:53 hours. diagnostic studies at the hospital included a c.t. scan which demonstrated intercranial injuries, which included swelling of the brain and hemorrhage surrounding the brain. mr. kessler's condition continued to deteriorate, and death was pronounced on november 6th at 1:10 a.m. an autopsy was performed on the morning of november 6th. the autopsy demonstrated non-lethal injuries to the left side of mr. kessler's face. additional injuries included injury to the back of the head. these injuries are consistent with and typical of injuries sustained from a fall. internal injuries also were consistent with a fall, which included skull fractures, swelling of the brain and bruising to the brain. the cause of death has been certified as blunt force head trauma. the manner of death is homicide. the manner of death is a medical-legal determination. manner of death of homicide does not indicate that a crime has been committed. this is a determination that is made by the district attorney's office. when a manner of death of homicide is made, it's simply stating that the death occurred at the hands of another person, or the actions of another person contributed to the death of a person. our hearts and our thoughts are with every individual affected by this tragic event. thank you. >> now, at this time we will entertain questions, understanding that i'm very limited on what i can discuss based on the investigation itself. >> are you giving the name of the suspect? >> no. >> okay. why is that? >> -- any crime at all? >> the suspect has not been arrested. no arrests have been made related to this incident. and the suspect has not been identified publicly. >> sheriff, you mentioned that you want information, you want photos and videos from the public. it's important if we're going to determine if a hate crime occurred here what interactions occurred between mr. kessler and the suspect. can you tell us anything about what witnesses have told you about that interaction? >> i can just tell you that the information we're getting is conflicting with one another. there was clearly an interaction between the two. but what that level of interaction is is still unclear. that's why we're asking for any video footage that we can have. the one camera angle that i think you have all seen that's from the shell station is unfortunately blocked by the message board indicating gas prices. and so we cannot see that from that angle. so we're hoping that somebody has video that can help shed some light on what occurred leading up to mr. kessler falling and hitting his head. one second. follow-up question. >> -- hit him in the head at some point? >> we do not have that confirmed. that is something we're trying to investigate. that wasn't a statement that had been made. but we do not have confirmation of that at this time. >> given conflicting reports as to how the fall happened, why did the medical examiner deem it a homicide? if it's unclear who the aggressor was. >> do you want to take that? >> sure. so again, the manner of death of homicide doesn't reflect whether or not a crime has been committed. so it just -- that there's an interaction with another person. so it doesn't -- it's not hinging on who's the aggressor. it's just that another individual was involved in partially causing the death. >> doctor, you said that the injury to the head was non-lethal. so the lethal injury was the injury to the back of the head -- the injury to the face i should say. >> correct. the injuries on the left side of the face were non-lethal. and the lethal injury was the impact to the back of the head from mr. kessler falling and striking his head on the ground. >> so is it your belief that this victim was also hit and that caused him to fall, or was it the hit itself that caused this fatal injury? >> again, this is still under investigation. but there are injured on the front of the face which could be consistent with a blow to the face. >> so to the sheriff, if i may, when you talk bay blow that would cause an individual to fall, is it your contention that the suspect structure v struck t the victim and caused him to fall? >> my contention is we still don't know that. we're waiting to see evidence of what occurred in that interaction and whether there was a blow to the face that caused the fall or if mr. kessler fell without that being the precipitating event. >> sheriff, you mentioned increased patrols around houses of worship. did this incident change your safety and patrol measures at demonstrations regardless of the size? >> no. so we are not changing our protocol. what we do right now is we evaluate every protest on their own merit to determine what we think the threat level is and then based on that threat level we determine what resources if any need to be there. it's very clear that sometimes when law enforcement does arrive on scene that we can be a catalyst for additional aggression, and so we try and limit our presence. but if there's already aggression being displayed, we want to be there to make sure people are peacefully protesting. in this event 15 minutes prior to this confrontation our thousand oaks police chief had driven through the area. there was about 30 people present when he had left. there was no indication of impending violence. and so no additional resources were needed. our patrol staff had been made aware of this protest and were driving through frequently to just keep an eye on what was happening. this event was not preventable. >> and the suspect you are indicating has been -- is cooperative as he could be under the circumstances? >> it's my understanding that he answered the questions when he was contacted at the scene. i don't know the vetting of all those questions that he answered. but he at least stayed behind in -- >> when he was detained, was that a cooperative -- >> to my understanding yes, cooperative. >> what does he say that happened? >> i'm not at liberty to say that at this time. >> why did you execute a search warrant at his home? >> we're kakt thorough investigation, we want to make sure we have all the evidence we need if we're going to prosecute someone. >> is he a suspect? >> we've identified him as a suspect because right now he's the only one we have information on that may have had an interacts with our victim. that does not mean there aren't others. we're waiting for that information to come out from our residents who were there or any other people who were present and if they have video of that to indicate there was more than one person involved we definitely want that information as well. >> there were some earlier reports that the victim may have recorded on his cell phone the interaction before it actually -- or as it was unfolding. do you have any information on that? >> i don't have that information at this time. >> -- cell phone and -- >> it's my understanding our investigators are working on that and i don't have that information to disclose at this time. >> sheriff at one point it looked like the two groups were on opposite sides of the street. did they intermingle at one point or how did they come in contact? >> to be honest i don't know that information either. i don't know if it was one corner or two corners that were occupied by one group or if they were all commingled the entire time. we don't have that information. >> can you talk a little bit about what that corner had been like or if there had been previous rallies or demonstrations there and just give a little bit of color about what that's been like in the past few weeks and previously? because from what i understand that was a place where there had been some trump rallies and other sorts of political demonstrations. >> because of the volume of traffic that's at that intersection it tends to be a fairly popular intersection to have protests of any number of things. for this conflict that we're facing right now there had been three prior events at this location in thousand oaks. two at the location. this event would have been the third one at that intersection. we've had 21 protests countywide since october 7th. this was the only one so far that has had some type of violent encounter at all. >> thewere there permits -- >> there were no permits required. this is a first amendment protected activity and oftentimes protesters use the crosswalk to make their voices heard and be seen. so when you ask if they're intermingling between sides they're using the crosswalk to be seen and so that interaction is likely to occur. >> sheriff at any point did you recover a megaphone from the suspect? >> did we recover what? >> a megaphone. >> i don't have information on that. i apologize. >> any priors on the suspect? >> i'm not at liberty to discuss at this time. >> and were there any other confrontations or disturbances between the two groups beyond the normal yelling and -- against each other? >> i don't have any information about any other conflict other than one group who was pro israel and one who was pro palestine -- >> physical confrontations. >> we don't have any indication of that, there's been any prior physical confront aiatfrontatio anyone. and as far as both organizations having their events on there, publicly stated on their social media was to have peaceful protests and to not engage in counterprotests. >> the suspect and mr. kessler, did they know each other? have they ever met before? >> i don't have information if they met before, if they knew each other prior. >> do you have any information if in fact the suspect was carrying a megaphone or if a megaknowphone was used to strike victim? >> i don't have that information. >> but you've heard that -- >> i've heard that. and i think the medical examiner has said that the injuries on the face could have been caused by a megaphone. but i don't have the information. >> do you have a sense of the relative size of the two groups? i mean, was there one side t