STOCKTON, Calif. (KTXL) — Police in California said Monday that two more shootings – one of them fatal – are connected to the five killings they are investigating as the work of a possible serial killer.
Police in Stockton, a city south of Sacramento, announced last week that they were investigating five homicides dating back to July that they believed were connected. All the shootings happened in the city of Stockton when the victims were alone during the night or early morning, while they were walking or in their cars, police said.
Aside from the first victim, all the men killed were Hispanic, police said. The first victim was a white man. Their ages ranged from 21 to 54.
Police said Monday they believe another killing – this one much less recent – is also connected. A 40-year-old Hispanic man was shot and killed on April 10, 2021, at 4:18 a.m in Oakland, located about 70 miles from Stockton, where all the other known shootings took place.
One other shooting, which happened on April 16, 2021, around 3:20 a.m., is also connected, police said. A Black woman was shot near Park and Union streets in Stockton, but unlike the other victims, she survived.
Police have not said how they connected the two shootings to the other five.
“It definitely meets the definition of a serial killer,” said Stockton police officer Joseph Silva. “What makes this different is the shooter is just looking for an opportunity, and unfortunately, our victims were alone in a dark area.”
Police would not say whether all seven shootings had been linked to the same gun.
Stockton Police Chief Stanley McFadden said there is a person of interest they think can shed some light on at least one of the killings in the city. He emphasized, however, that the person of interest could be a witness or a suspect.
McFadden said investigators identified the person after scrubbing through hundreds of hours of video. He also said that despite all the hours of footage, none of the crimes nor the weapons used have been caught on camera. That makes it hard to determine if there is one suspect in all seven crimes or multiple suspects.
“The problem we have is we have no evidence to tell us that it’s one person, two or three. We just don’t know that,” McFadden said last week.
Below are the locations of the five killings that took place in Stockon.
- July 8: 5600 block of Kermit Lane, near Elaine and East Robinhood drives, around 12:30 a.m.
- Aug. 11: 4900 block of West Lane, near Bianchi Road, around 9:39 p.m.
- Aug. 30: 800 block of East Hammer Lane, near Shamrock and Tam O’Shanter drives, around 6:40 a.m.
- Sept. 21: 4400 block of Manchester Avenue, near Rosemarie Lane, around 4:30 a.m.
- Sept. 27: 900 block Porter Avenue, near Gettysburg Place, around 1:51 a.m.
Police have said they do not believe the shootings are a hate crime nor do they believe they are gang-related. None of the victims in Stockton appeared to have been robbed before they were killed.
Police ask anyone who lives near the areas of the shootings to check their doorbell and security cameras for potential information. The city of Stockton, Stockton Crime Stoppers and a local construction company owner offered a total of $95,000 for information leading to an arrest in the slayings.
Anyone with information can call the tip line at 209-937-8167 or email policetips@stocktonca.gov.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.