Suspected serial killer arrested, police believe he may be behind California murder spree

Police station California They say they have caught a serial killer suspected of being responsible for a handful of murders that have haunted the Stockton and Auckland areas.

Authorities say they arrested the suspect, identified as Wesley Brownlee, 43, as he was driving before dawn on Saturday.

“He was on a murder mission early this morning and was out hunting,” Stockton Police Chief Stanley McFadden said on Saturday.

“He was dressed in black and had a mask around his neck. He was also armed with a gun when he was taken into custody. I’m sure we stopped another murder,” he said. continued.

“Our surveillance team tracked this person down while driving. We saw his pattern and determined early this morning that he was on a killing mission,” he said. Added it. Brownlee was taken into custody after engaging in behavior deemed threatening, including going to a park or dark area and stopping and looking around before driving.

A minute’s silence was held at a press conference for the victims of the alleged terror that has terrorized the community for nearly two years.

McFadden said investigators began watching the suspect after receiving the information and stopped him in his car around 2 a.m. in the Central Valley city where five shootings took place.

His first murder charge occurred on April 21 last year, and the most recent “hunt” came a month before his arrest.

He is currently in custody and is scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday afternoon. Police say he has a criminal record.

McFadden said his officers were able to make a breakthrough in the case thanks to “community tips” and “good old police work.”

Authorities received hundreds of pieces of information after announcing the search, and investigators found and monitored where Brownlee lived.

Authorities have so far been able to link six gun deaths in California cities to one killer since early 2021.

Law enforcement officials described the Brownlee serial killings as a “reign of terror.” Only one of his victims was shot and survived.

Earlier this month, police released footage of a man believed to be the Stockton serial killer.

On Saturday, the Stockton Police Department confirmed to the Daily Mail that it believed the person in the surveillance footage was the same person who appeared in the video.

His first victim was 39-year-old Miguel Vazquez Serrano, who died in East Auckland last April.

The next victim wasn’t killed until early July this summer.

Paul Yeo, 35, died on 8 July. Salvador Debudey Jr., 43, died on August 11th. Jonathan Hernandez Rodriguez, 21, died on his August 30th. Juan Cruz, 52, died on his September 21st.

His most recent murder charge was that of Lawrence Lopez Sr., who died on September 27.

Five of the killer’s seven victims were Hispanic, but it remains unclear whether they were targeted because of their race. Some were not.

None of the victims had been robbed or beaten prior to the killings, and no one seemed to know each other.

Additionally, police said the killing did not appear to be gang or drug related.

Police don’t yet know the motive, but believe the killer was “mission-oriented.”

It’s also not clear to law enforcement why the killer took more than 400 days’ rest between the first assault in April 2021 and when he started killing again in July this year. .

Stockton Mayor Kevin Lincoln said Saturday that community members should be able to “get a little easier tonight” following the arrest.

“I want to make this very clear to the people of Stockton, the United States, and the people of the world: When the people of Stockton come together, we can get things done. , will be a place for people to live, feed their families and grow their businesses,” he said.