A suspected serial killer in the California city of Stockton was arrested Saturday and police say they believe he was “on the hunt” when he was taken into custody.
“We’re confident we stopped another murder,” Chief Stanley McFadden of the Stockton Police Department said at a news conference Saturday.
Wesley Brownlee, 43, was arrested in connection with six unprovoked murders of men aged 21 to 54 over the past few months. He was reported on Saturday on a charge of murder.
Police said surveillance teams followed Brownlee while he was driving and stopped him in the area of Village Green Drive and Winslow Avenue around 2 a.m. Saturday.
Wesley Brownlee, 43, was arrested and charged with murder on Saturday, October 15, 2022. Authorities believe he is connected to a series of murders in Stockton, California.
Stockton Police Department
“Our surveillance team followed this individual as he was driving. We watched his patterns and determined early in the morning, he was on a mission to kill. He was on the hunt,” McFadden said.
McFadden added: “When officers made contact with him, he was wearing dark clothing and a mask around his neck. He was also armed with a firearm when he was taken into custody.”
Brown will be arraigned Tuesday and more charges are likely, police said.
The San Joaquin County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the victims. Paul Yaw, 35, was killed on July 8; Salvador Debudey Jr., 43, died on August 11; Jonathan Hernandez Rodriguez, 21, was killed on August 30; Juan Cruz, 52 years old, was the victim of September 21; and Lawrence Lopez Sr., 54, was killed on September 27.
The men were alone at the time they were fatally shot, officials said. All of the killings took place at night or early in the morning, police said.
Another shooting, of a 46-year-old black woman at Park Street and Union Street in Stockton at 3:20 a.m. on April 16, 2021, was also connected to the investigation, police said earlier this month. The woman survived her injuries in that shooting, they said.
Police said there is no known motive for the killings, but it is believed to have been intentional.
ABC News’ Mark Osborne and Emily Shapiro contributed to this report.