Investigators in Stockton, California, have said that two further gunshots are connected to a string of recent murders in the city.
A total of $95,000 is being offered as a reward for information that will lead to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for five separate killings that occurred between July 8 and September 27 in California. According to the police, they already had a strong suspicion that these slayings were connected.
Now, two gunshots that occurred before sunrise in the year 2021 have also been linked to the current run of killings, the Stockton police revealed late Monday on Facebook:
– On April 10, 2021, a 40-year-old Hispanic man was shot to death in Oakland, California.
– On April 16, 2021, a 46-year-old Black woman was shot at Park and Union streets in Stockton; she survived.
CNN has reached out to the Stockton police department in an effort to get further information on the possible connections between the cases of 2021 and 2022.
A photograph of the back of a person dressed in all black has been uploaded by the police on Facebook, along with a statement indicating that the individual may be connected to the inquiry.
“Please do not fall victim, be alert, have your head on a swivel, stay where it’s lit, communicate,” McFadden added. “We need you, we need your help, we need your tips, and we need you to help not to spread misinformation.”
According to the police, four of the victims in this year’s killings were Hispanic men ranging in age from 21 to 54 years old, and the fifth victim was a male White adult who was 35 years old.
The police have not made any identifications of the victims of the incident that took place.
Each of the five victims who were killed in murders connected to this year’s string was found alone and had been shot either in the evening or early in the morning, according to the Police.
Officials have said that it is unknown if the victims were chosen at random or whether they were known to the person who committed the crime.
At a press conference on Friday, Stockton police said that the assaults were unrelated to any robberies or gang activity that had occurred in the vicinity.
“It wasn’t a robbery, items aren’t being stolen, they’re not talking about any gang activity in the area or anything. It’s just an element of surprise,” said Stanley McFadden, the Stockton Police Chief.
According to a Friday post on Facebook, Stockton Crime Stoppers and the city of Stockton are offering a monetary reward of up to $85,000 for any information that leads to the arrest of a suspect. Another ten thousand dollars was contributed to the prize for information by the proprietor of a local construction firm, amounting to a collective sum of $95,000.
