LOS ANGELES — Two men were arrested Friday in Los Angeles in connection with a string of deadly shootings at 7-Eleven stores in Southern California that left two dead and three injured, as well as the fatal shooting of a homeless man in L.A.
Malik Patt, 20, and Jason Payne, 44, were captured after being tracked by the Orange County Violent Crime Task Force following the series of robberies and homicides that began a week ago in Los Angeles and cut across Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
“This was a reign of terror,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in announcing the arrests along with authorities from across the region. “To be thinking that you go to a convenience store or a doughnut shop or a sandwich shop and to get shot in the face or call your loved one with your last gasps for breath.”
The task force consisting of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents and investigators from Orange County police agencies tracked the men for almost a day to a home in the 1900 block of West 23rd Street and took them into custody shortly after 1 p.m.
Patt, authorities said, was the gunman in the 7-Eleven shootings Monday. Security video from one of the robberies showed his face covered by a mask under a hooded sweatshirt, with only his eyes visible; that image was widely circulated as police conducted an extensive manhunt and 7-Eleven offered a $100,000 reward for a tip leading to an arrest.
Patt and Payne are prime suspects in 11 robberies, and they are expected to be charged Monday in Orange County with at least two murders with special circumstances that could result in the death penalty, according to Spitzer, Santa Ana Police Chief David Valentin and L.A. Deputy Police Chief Alan Hamilton.
Hamilton said the men are also suspects in a July 9 shooting of an unhoused man in North Hills, which occurred shortly before four robberies nearby, and they may be tied to other crimes in the weeks before.
“We believe that there are a number of crimes throughout the Los Angeles region that may also lead back to this suspect,” Hamilton said, referring to Patt.
Authorities initially sought the serial violent robbers after a holdup occurred in Ontario just after midnight Monday, followed by a robbery at a 7-Eleven store in Upland about 40 minutes later. Neither resulted in injuries.
At 1:50 a.m. in Riverside, a 7-Eleven in the 5100 block of La Sierra Avenue was robbed. During the crime, the robber pulled a handgun and shot a customer, who was in grave condition at the time. That victim has been identified as 46-year-old Jason Harrel.
Then, about 3 a.m., another armed robbery occurred at a Yum Yum Donuts in Santa Ana. Shortly after, police responded to a shooting at a 7-Eleven location in Santa Ana, in the 300 block of East 17th Street.
Matthew Rule, 24, was robbed and fatally shot outside the store, police said, adding that it did not appear the gunman entered the store.
At 4:17 a.m., police responded to another robbery at a 7-Eleven in Brea. Store clerk Matthew Hirsch, 40, was fatally shot.
Finally, La Habra police responded to a robbery at a 7-Eleven on East Whittier Boulevard at 4:55 a.m. Two unidentified victims, who are believed to have been the clerk and a customer, were shot. Both are expected to survive, authorities said.
Law enforcement sources said evidence recovered in one of the Orange County robberies connects it to the four July 9 robberies at two 7-Elevens and two doughnut shops that police were investigating in the San Fernando Valley, as well as the killing of an unhoused man near one of those scenes.
The armed robberies occurred over roughly 11/2 hours early that day in North Hills, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Detectives quickly determined that series of crimes was “linked” to the shooting of a man in the head in the 16100 block of Parthenia Street, Hamilton said, adding that detectives also connected it to the Orange County robberies.
On Thursday, 7-Eleven Inc. offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction those involved in the shootings. “Our hearts remain with the victims and their loved ones, and our focus continues to be on Franchisee, associate and customer safety,” the company wrote in a statement.
A tip tied to a suspect was called in to authorities after that reward was announced, a law enforcement source said.
Georgan Browning, wife of 60-year-old Russell Browning, who survived being shot in the face outside the La Habra store, said she and her husband were happy to learn of the arrests.
“It brings a peace of mind to us that he’s captured and that he can’t hurt anyone else or disrupt any more lives,” the 74-year-old said in a phone interview with the Los Angeles Times. “We’re going to pray for him, for mercy.”
She said the shooter must be hurting to have taken such a violent path that day.
Russell Browning, a truck driver, was sitting in his car outside the convenience store when he noticed a person next to his passenger window. Before he realized what was happening, a handgun was fired at him.
Browning’s wife said the bullet struck her husband’s lip and exited his jaw area. She said he’s continuing to recover.
“He’s got a long road ahead of him,” she said. “He’s alive and he’s home.”
At least one of the suspects was injured while being taken into custody and needed treatment. ATF agents and task force members had been following the pair before the arrests.
DA Spitzer said he expects that the criminal proceedings for all the offenses will be handled in one county. “There are murder, attempted murder, robbery charges,” Spitzer said. “We need to connect a lot of dots. But the murder in Brea at the 7-Eleven and the murder in Santa Ana, we plan to file those charges by as soon as Monday.”
(Staff writers Grace Toohey and Itzel Luna contributed to this report.)
