Stockton, Calif. (AP) Tests of ballistics have found a link between the murders of six people and the wounding of a woman in California which could all be caused by the serial killer in a series of crimes dating further than an entire year, police have confirmed.
The authorities announced this week that five men from Stockton had been killed in recent months, and were ambushed and then shot dead in the darkness. On Monday night, police announced that two other cases from in the past year including the death of a man in Oakland as well as the non-fatal shooting of one woman in Stockton — were linked to the killings.
“It certainly fits the definition that a serial murderer is” declared Stockton Policing Officer Joseph Silva. “What makes this case different is the shooter is simply seeking an opportunity and unfortunately , our victims were all alone in a dark location.”
Police could not confirm if the seven shootings were connected to the identical gun.
In the tragic Stockton cases None of the suspects was beaten or robbed prior to the murders, that all occurred within a two square miles from July 8 and September. 27 — also, no one appeared to have been friends, Silva said. The killings appear not to be connected to drug or gang violence.
The second Stockton incident that involved an elderly woman, 46, was shot but was able to recover from her injurieswas committed on April 16, 2021, at 3:20 a.m. According to police, the incident occurred around 3:20 a.m. Also, the woman was on her own at the time.
The death of a 40-year-old man from Oakland has been linked to the violence that occurred in Stockton police have said. The man was killed about 4:15 a.m. on the 10th of April 2021. It is not known if the victim was alone when he was shot to death.
The City of Stockton, Stockton Crime Stoppers as well as a local construction company owner offered $95,000 to anyone who could help lead to the arrest of the murders.
Police released a grainy image of the “person of interest” dressed in black and sporting black caps, who was featured in videos from a variety of the homicide scene in Stockton.
A San Joaquin County Office of the Medical Examiner identified the Stockton victims on Monday as Paul Yaw, 35, who was killed on the 8th of July; Salvador Debudey Jr. 43, who passed away on August. 11. Jonathan Hernandez Rodriguez, 21 who died on August. 30, Juan Cruz, 52 who died on September. 21; and Lawrence Lopez Sr., 54.
Lopez was killed just prior to 2 a.m. on the morning of Sept. 27 within a neighborhood of residential located north of downtown.
He “was simply someone who was at the wrong spot at the wrong moment and in the wrong place,” his brother, Jerry Lopez, told KXTV-TV. “It’s difficult to accept the fact that this occurred.”
There could be several victims of the violence.
“To be honest, we do not really know what we don’t,” Silva said. “This person, or the people who are doing this are extremely bold and brave.”
Police say they found that four Stockton murder victims were walking on their own and the fifth victim was in a vehicle parked at the time of their death at night or in early in the morning in the town of 320,000 people, situated around fifty miles (80 kilometers) south of the capital city of the state, Sacramento.