Police say shooter in Bakersfield, Kern county, California, killed himself as a sheriff’s deputy closed in

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A gunman in southern California fatally shot his ex-wife and a man at a trucking company before chasing after another man, killing him, and then driving to a home where he shot dead a father and daughter.

Kern county sheriff Donny Youngblood identified the killer as 54-year-old Javier Casarez at a news conference about the shootings that claimed five victims in Bakersfield, about 90 miles (145km) north of Los Angeles.

Casarez fatally shot himself in the chest as a deputy closed in on him shortly after the shooting.

Court records show Casarez filed for a divorce from his wife, Petra Maribel Bolanos de Casarez, in December and that it was finalized on 12 April.

Bolanos recently filed for a change involving child support and custody over the couple’s two teenage children, and the pair had a hearing set for 11 October, court records show.

Youngblood said it appears that Casarez targeted every victim, starting with a worker at T & T Trucking, and that domestic violence appears to have played a large part.

“It appears to be there’s more than just husband and wife having a fight because other people were targeted,” he said. “There’s a reason for that and we need to find that reason.”

Casarez likely took his ex-wife to the trucking company against her will and then fatally shot 50-year-old Manuel Contreras with a .50-caliber handgun. He shot his ex-wife and then turned the gun on a second man, 50-year-old Antonio Valadez, the sheriff’s department said.

Casarez fired at Valadez as he ran away, but then tracked him down in his car and killed him, the sheriff said.

Casarez then drove to the house of 57-year-old Eliseo Garcia Cazares, who Youngblood identified as a friend. Casarez fatally shot Garcia Cazares and his daughter, 31-year-old Laura Garcia, who may have been collateral damage.

“She may have tried to intervene to keep the suspect from approaching her father, and he shot and killed both of them,” Youngblood said.

After the shooting, Casarez carjacked a woman driving with her child. The woman and child escaped, and Casarez drove to a highway where a sheriff’s deputy saw him, Youngblood said.

As the deputy closed in, yelling at Casarez to drop his gun, Casarez fatally shot himself in the chest, body camera footage released by police shows.

From the first to last shot fired, just 37 minutes passed.

David Bunting, who said he’s a friend of Garcia Cazares and lives two doors down, said he has no idea why his neighbor would have been targeted.

He said Garcia Cazares was a self-employed truck driver who was always with his grandkids when not working, often driving them around on his golf cart.

“He’s a really nice guy. I can’t say enough good things about him,” Bunting said. “It’s kind of a shock because of the kind of a person he was.”

He said Garcia Cazares’s daughter Laura was a mother of four and that most of the Garcias’ family was home at the time of the shooting. He said they are devastated and in shock. Garcia Cazares and his wife had four grown children, he added, including a daughter who was killed in a car accident a few years ago.

About 30 people saw the shootings and were being interviewed by deputies, Youngblood said.

Youngblood added that investigators are looking into whether Casarez’s ex-wife may have had relationships with Contreras or Valadez.

He said Casarez was a legal permanent resident of the US and that it wasn’t immediately known whether he legally owned the .50-caliber gun he used in the shootings or whether he had a criminal record.

In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 and the domestic violence helpline is on 0808 2000 247. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org