STOCKTON, Calif. (AP) — Ballistics tests have linked the fatal shootings of six men in California and the wounding of a woman — all likely at the hands of a serial killer, police say – Police said the crime dates back to more than a year ago.
Authorities announced last week that five men in Stockton had been massacred, ambushed and shot alone in the dark in recent months. Late Monday, police said two more cases last year — the death of a man in Oakland and the shooting death of a woman in Stockton — were linked to the killings.
“It definitely fits the definition of a serial killer,” said Stockton Sergeant Joseph Silva. “The difference this time is that the shooter was just looking for an opportunity and unfortunately our victim was alone in a dark place.”
Police would not say whether all seven shootings were related to the same gun.
In Stockton’s fatal case, no one was robbed or beaten before the killing — all within a few square miles between July 8 and September 8. 27 – Silva said no one seemed to know each other. The shooting also appears to have nothing to do with gangs or drugs.
Another crime in Stockton occurred around 3:20 a.m. on April 16, 2021, when a 46-year-old woman was shot but survived, police said. The woman was alone at the time.
Police said the shooting of a 40-year-old man in Oakland was also linked to the violence in Stockton. The man was shot and killed on April 10, 2021 at approximately 4:15 a.m. It is unclear if the man was also unaccompanied when he was killed.
The city of Stockton, Stockton Crime Stoppers and a local construction company owner provided a combined $95,000 in funding for information leading to arrests in the killings.
Police released a grainy still image of a “person of interest,” dressed in black and wearing a black hat, who appeared in video from several homicide scenes in Stockton.
The San Joaquin County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the Stockton victims Monday as Paul Yo, 35, who was killed on July 8; and Salvador Debudey Jr., 43, who was killed on 8 month died. 11; Jonathan Hernandez Rodriguez, 21, died in August. 30; Juan Cruz, 52, killed on September 2. Lawrence Lopez Sr., 21 and 54.
Lopez was shot shortly before 2 a.m. on September 2. 27 in a residential area north of the city center.
His brother, Jerry Lopez, told KXTV-TV that he was “just a guy in the wrong place, at the wrong time, in the wrong setting.” “It’s hard to deal with what has happened.”
There may even be multiple people involved in the violence.
“Honestly, we just don’t know,” Silva said. “This person or those who are out there doing it, they’re absolutely daring and brazen.”
Four of the victims of the Stockton homicide walked alone, police said, and one in five walked in the evening or early morning at the 320,000-resident town about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of the state capital. was killed in the city, Sacramento.