(NewsNation) — The reward in the search for a killer linked to six California murders has increased to $100,000.
The Stockton Police Department is searching for the person responsible for fatally shooting six men and injuring one woman. Five of those men were killed in recent months. Authorities connected their deaths through ballistics testing to two additional cases from last year — a man’s death in Oakland and the nonfatal shooting of a woman in Stockton.
Police Chief Stanley McFadden on Tuesday released cloudy surveillance video of their person of interest in the series of homicides. McFadden says the person of interest was captured on many videos and that everyone in the area is at risk.
Detectives also spoke with the surviving victim in the case. She described the suspect as 5’10” to 6’, with a thin build and wearing a dark-colored, hooded sweatshirt with the hood pulled up, dark-colored pants and an all-black “COVID style mask.”
Police announced that four of the Stockton homicide victims were walking alone and a fifth was in a parked car when they were killed in the evening or early morning in the city, about 50 miles south of Sacramento. The killings took place between July 8 and Sept. 27 within a radius of a few square miles.
The San Joaquin County Office of the Medical Examiner identified the Stockton victims as Paul Yaw, 35, who was killed on July 8; Salvador Debudey Jr., 43, who died Aug. 11; Jonathan Hernandez Rodriguez, 21, who died Aug. 30; Juan Cruz, 52, who was killed Sept. 21 and Lawrence Lopez Sr., 54.
Anyone with information on the case is urged to call the Stockton Police Department’s tip line at (209) 937-8167 or email policetips@stocktonca.gov. Tips can also be submitted to Stockton Crime Stoppers at (209) 946-0600.
