Reward in Stockton serial killer case grows to $125,000

The search for information about a serial killer believed to be responsible for five deadly shootings in Stockton and another in Oakland now includes a reward of $125,000.

That was an increase of $25,000 with a contribution to the pot from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives on Tuesday, the Stockton police announced.

The reward grew on the same day that police released a surveillance video of a person of interest connected to the slayings and a non-fatal attack of a Stockton woman going back to 2021.

The footage shows a man dressed in black and wearing a camp. His gait as he walked down the street in the video was described as unique by police. 

The five men killed in Stockton were ambushed as they walked alone in the dark, authorities have said. The shootings happened in the evening or early morning.

"We don’t know what the motive is. What we do believe is that it’s mission-oriented," Stockton Police Chief Stanley McFadden said Tuesday. "This person’s on a mission."

The Oakland shooting was the earliest of the attacks, dating from April 2021. A few days passed when the woman was shot but survived in Stockton.

Then, more than a year passed before the alleged killer struck again with a July 2022 shooting in Stockton. The most recent death linked to the killer happened on September 27.