Arrest made whereas suspect was ‘searching’

STOCKTON, Calif. – An arrest has been made within the serial killings in central California, police stated Saturday, offering aid for a group residing in anxiousness as a gunman continued to kill for greater than a 12 months.

Stockton police stated they obtained ideas from the group that led them to the suspect, Wesley Brownlee, 43. Investigators had been monitoring Brownlee’s actions and adopted him as he was driving round 2 a.m. Saturday. They “decided early this morning he was on a mission to kill. He was out searching,” Stockton Police Chief Stanley McFadden stated at a press briefing Saturday afternoon.

“We’re positive we stopped one other killing,” McFadden stated.

Police have linked six capturing deaths and one harm courting again so far as final 12 months utilizing ballistics and a few video proof.

The killer gave the impression to be “on a mission,” McFadden stated final week.

In April 2021, a person was fatally shot in Oakland. Days later, a 46-year-old girl was wounded in a capturing in Stockton. Then, greater than a 12 months later, extra capturing deaths had been reported. 5 killings in Stockton had been linked to the case, taking place between July 8 and Sept. 27 — all taking place inside just a few miles of one another.

The six deadly victims had been all males; one girl was additionally shot and survived. A number of of the victims had been homeless.

A suspect was captured on video at a number of crime scenes, McFadden stated, however no bodily proof linked them to the shootings but. 

Communities the place the killings occurred have been residing in concern whereas officers examine the string of murders. Stockton police have gone door-to-door and canvassed homeless encampments in these areas to warn residents to take precautions, equivalent to touring with others and staying indoors when potential.

“Everybody’s in concern,” McFadden stated Thursday. “Do we have to pause our lives? No. However I believe we have to be extra alert. I believe we have to have situational consciousness.”

The primary deadly sufferer, Juan Vasquez Serrano, 39, was shot a number of occasions in Oakland at about 4:15 a.m. on April 10, 2021.

The girl who was shot and survived stated she was in her tent on April 16, 2021 when in the course of the evening after 3 a.m., she heard somebody strolling round outdoors. When she got here out of the tent, she was met with somebody holding a gun, who she stated fired a number of pictures, wounding her.

When she superior towards her attacker, who was sporting darkish garments, a hood and a protecting face masks, the suspect lowered the gun.

“She stated there have been no phrases talked about in any respect,” McFadden stated final week.

The San Joaquin County Workplace of the Medical Examiner recognized the Stockton victims as Paul Yaw, 35, who died July 8; Salvador Debudey Jr., 43, who died Aug. 11; Jonathan Hernandez Rodriguez, 21, who died Aug. 30; Juan Cruz, 52, who died Sept. 21; and Lawrence Lopez Sr., 54, who died Sept. 27.

None of these males had been robbed or overwhelmed earlier than they had been shot, and police stated they did not appear to know one another. The assaults gave the impression to be ambushes, McFadden stated.

Whereas 5 of the seven males killed had been Latino, McFadden stated the killings do not seem like hate crimes.

Contributing: Aaron Leathley, The Stockton Report; The Related Press