1 dead, 1 arrested in apparently random shootings in city

A man shooting apparently at random as he drove through Banning killed at least one person and injured others Saturday, September 26, police say.

The motive for the shooting spree remains murky.

Next, someone matching that description shot at a vehicle at 11:43 a.m.at San Gorgonio Avenue and Nicolet Street, about a mile west and north from the first scene.

Seven minutes later, a woman said someone shot at her. She was injured by broken glass. His children were safe, Diaz said. He described the suspect vehicle as a white SUV. CBS2’s Laurie Perez was at that news conference where police said they were dealing “with 4-5 different crime scenes”.

In all three cases, the surviving victims reported seeing a white or Latino man in a blue T-shirt and sunglasses driving a white SUV, police said. A short time later, an assault was reported in the parking lot of a local AMPM.

Authorities said they were still trying to gather information about the randomness of the attacks or if the victims were specifically targeted. A man in the vehicle was dead, but Diaz said that because of the damage caused by the crash investigators have yet to determine if the man died as a result of the crash or from a gunshot.

Police worked quickly to try to catch up with the suspect.

“We can’t control human emotion and impulse, but what we try to do is get out there as soon as possible to deal with the situation and control it. And if a suspect is out there shooting, then obviously take care of the threat”, said Chief of Police Alex Diaz.

At 12:25 p.m., he broke the window and door handle of a auto that had a woman and children inside in the 1300 block of 8th Street.

After contacting Banning police, Beaumont police officers stopped the suspect nearby. Nearly an hour after the terror began, the suspect in a white Chevy Tahoe was finally tracked down in Beaumont after terrorizing more victims while trying to break into a auto.

Before he was arrested, he was knocking on doors in a Beaumont neighborhood, asking if anyone had seen his children, police said.

Police could not say what type of gun was used in the attacks because they were waiting on a search warrant. The name of other victims have not been released.