Video surveillance footage featuring a person of interest in the investigation of six homicides and a shooting has been released by Stockton Police Chief Stanley McFadden during an Oct. 4 press conference that included Mayor Kevin Lincoln and City Manager Harry Black.
This release comes just days after SPD initially disclosed that the department was looking into five Stockton homicides the department believed were “interconnected” on Sep. 28.
“By definition these shootings are a series of killings,” said McFadden during the Oct. 4 update. “We do believe we have a potential serial killer.”
The grainy video surveillance footage shared during this press conference featured a man in dark clothing with his back to the camera. The man had an “uneven stride” and an “extremely upright gait” noted McFadden.
“We’ve seen this person of interest on more than one of the incidents, so it’s absolutely someone we want to talk to,” McFadden said about the unknown suspect.
The City of Stockton, Stockton Crime Stoppers, and the Federal Bureau Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with donations from anonymous local business owners, are now offering a combined $125,000 reward for anyone with information that leads to an arrest.
“There’s one thing we know about the city of Stockton,” said Lincoln in his first address to the city since news about this investigation broke last week. “We are resilient. And when we experience and we go through adversity, like the chief said, we come together. We find a way.”
The community was first alerted that a series of five Stockton homicides with similar patterns were under investigation on Sept. 30. Later, on Oct. 3, the SPD disclosed in a Facebook post that it was now considering two additional cases that could potentially be linked with the initial five identified.
The April 10, 2021, shooting death of a 40-year-old Hispanic man in Oakland, as well as an April 16, 2021, shooting of a 46-year-old black woman at Park Street and Union Street, in which the victim survived, are now under investigation.
“We do have ballistic evidence that interconnects these cases,” McFadden said on Oct. 4 when asked why the two new cases were now under scrutiny.
The initial five homicides all occurred between July and September.
The first occurred on July 8, on the 5600 block of Kermit Lane, just a mile and a half east of campus.
The second was on Aug. 11 in the 4900 block of West Lane. The third happened on Aug. 30, at the 800 block of East Hammer Lane. The fourth was on Sept. 22, on the 4400 block of Manchester Avenue. The most recent homicide occurred on Sept. 27, on the 900 block of Porter Avenue, about a mile north of campus.
This disclosure prompted a rare safety message from Delta’s District Police on Wednesday, Sept. 28, which urged students to be “vigilant” and maintain “constant awareness of their surroundings” in order to remain safe.
These homicides all occurred between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. in areas around town that are heavily shaded by tree cover and poorly lit. Victims were gunned down seemingly at random, said McFadden, while walking alone on the sidewalk, or while sitting alone in their cars.
McFadden said these victims seemed to be “caught by surprise” by the killer.
The ages of the victims ranged from 21 to 54 years old. The first linked victim was a white male, while the other four were Hispanic males. The Oakland victim was a Hispanic male. A black female is the lone survivor of the alleged perpetrator.
None of the victims were targeted for a robbery, with the killer leaving behind the victim’s wallets and keys.
These similarities have prompted the Stockton police department to assemble “a team of detectives, task force officers (federal, state, and county), and crime analysts” to more closely examine these patterns, according to a statement on SPD’s Facebook page.
“I need the community to be on high alert. We are in this together.” McFadden said during the Sept. 30 update.
“There are grieving families that are deeply touched by these homicides,” said McFadden during the Friday Sept. 30 press conference. “We bring closure to them by having a thorough investigation, without misinformation.”
In the meantime, McFadden urged community members to remain aware of their surroundings, avoid being out late at night, and always report suspicious activity to the police.
If you have any information that could help with any of these investigations, you can submit a tip by calling 209-937-8167, or by e-mail at policetips@stocktonca.gov. If you have surveillance videos from near or around the crime scenes, you can submit them at stocktonpdca.evidence.com.