April 19, 2024

Serial killer identified in California

After seven shootings, six of which caused multiple deaths serial killer is arrested

   A serial killer was at large in Stockton, California, after seven shootings, six of which caused multiple deaths. With multiple pieces of evidence and video footage of some of the shootings, Stockton Police were able to trace it back to being the same person. The suspect was arrested on October 15 after tips from the community brought the Stockton police to the killer. Officers believe they found him while he was looking for his next victim. The suspect is Wesley Brownlee, 43. The list of Brownlees-specific shootings started in April of last year. 

The only shooting outside of Stockton city which was strung back to this killer took place in Oakland California, 72 miles from Stockton. This specific victim was a 40 years old Hispanic male in April of 2021. 

   A 46-year-old Black woman, Natasha LaTour, from Stockton is the only targeted victim that has survived one of these shootings and was able to give a few vague details to Stockton police. The details consisted of a height estimation of 5’10” to 6 feet tall and, he was also described to have a slim build. The victim also could not identify the man’s race. The victim said he was wearing all black and a hood when the incident happened so it was hard to identify him.

The encounter between LaTour and the killer took place on April 16, 2021, around 3 a.m. The lady told 209 Times that she ran towards the shooter hoping to reach the road behind him to find help and the shooter knelt on the ground and began to fire at her repeatedly. She was shot between nine and 10 times before the shooter fled. Throughout the whole encounter, the killer never said anything.

While the man remained at large, Stockton police had put a reward of $125,000 for any information that led to the arrest of the killer.

   The shooter first started killing people on April 10, 2021, killing Miguel Vasquez (39). The timeline between the murders is inconsistent so the police department was worried he would hit again before they captured him. After the first attack, it was six days later when he injured LaTour (46). The killer was not seen for three months until July 8, when he killed Paul Alexander Yaw (35). After another month on Aug. 11, he killed Salvador William Dubedy Jr. (43), then Jonathan Hernandez Rodriguez (21) on Aug. 30. A little less than a month later he killed two men six days apart, Juan Cruz (52) and Lorenzo Lopez (64).