A California man was arrested this week for allegedly randomly firing at passing cars, killing one man, and wounding another person, according to officials.
Deputies were called on 3 June at around 7am, shortly after the shooting began, with witnesses describing a man shooting into passing cars on State Street in the city of San Jacinto, outside of Los Angeles.
“During the course of this investigation, Julio Cesar Rodarte, a 39-year-old resident of San Jacinto, was arrested and booked into the Larry Smith Correctional Facility for murder and ten counts of attempted murder,” the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. “This investigation is still ongoing and no additional information will be released at this time.”
Surveillance video sent to KTLA shows a man in a hooded sweatshirt with a pistol unloading on passing vehicles, using multiple magazines of bullets. Witnesses told the publication the man later undressed.
The shooting killed Victor Hugo Leon, 42, a San Jacinto resident, according to police.
“He was a very lovable person,” his wife, Griselda Zepeda, told KTLA. “He leaves us very broken. He had that mean face, but he was such a sweetheart, always doing his best for his family.”
Leon was returning from an overnight shift working in a warehouse, and Zepeda was dismayed to find he hadn’t returned home Monday morning.
“More time kept passing by. I just had a feeling something bad had happened,” she said. “After him not calling me back after 40 times, I knew something was bad. I reported him missing. I went to every hospital hoping they would tell me he was there.”
Family members remembered Leon on a GoFundMe page.
“He was only minutes away from his home when this tragedy occurred,” the page reads. “Victor was an amazing father, husband and friend. He leaves behind three sons, one daughter, and his loving wife.”
“Victor’s smile and sense of humor will be truly missed, he leaves a hole in the hearts of us who knew him.”
Officials are not looking for any additional suspects, but ask anyone with information about the shooting to call the sheriff’s central homicide unit at (951) 955-2777.
