Possible domestic violence motive after California rampage
UPDATE: 9/14/2018 8:51 a.m. Officials are investigating a possible domestic violence motive after a man shot and killed his ex-wife and four others before killing himself in Southern California.
Kern County authorities say Javier Casarez targeted his victims at two locations during a half-hour rampage Wednesday in Bakersfield.
Sheriff Donny Youngblood said Thursday that detectives don’t know what specifically set Casarez off, but they’re looking into whether any of the victims had relationships with his ex-wife.
In his petition for divorce filed in December, Casarez accused Petra Maribel Bolanos De Casarez of cheating and asked the judge for his wife’s text messages to specific phone numbers. The judge denied the request.
Bolanos had recently filed for an unspecified change in orders involving child support and property.
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At least six people are dead after multiple shootings at several different locations in the Bakersfield area.
According to the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, there were five locations.
The Sheriff’s Office has interviewed more than 30 witnesses and carried out five search warrants.
Sheriff Donny Youngblood said it all started after a husband and wife showed up at a trucking business near Manwell Boulevard and Di Miller Driver. The husband confronted a man at the business. The husband then shot and killed that man and killed his wife. Another person showed up and another round was fired. The suspect chased that person to another store where he shot and killed the victim around Bear Mountain Sports.
The suspect then left and confronted two more people at a home on Breckenridge Road. The suspect then shot the two before stealing a car with a woman and child inside at a separate location.
Sheriff Youngblood said the woman was able to escape with her child. They were not hurt.
“He took that vehicle and drove to Edison Highway where a deputy saw him, he saw the deputy, pulled into a lot where the deputy confronted him with a firearm and the suspect put a gun to his chest and killed himself,” said Sheriff Youngblood.
The investigation is ongoing. Deputies are trying to figure what caused the man to go on the shooting rampage, but they are certain the shootings are connected.
