Suspected California serial killer Wesley Brownlee arrested by police while ‘out hunting’
A man suspected of killing six people in a string of murders in California has been arrested by police while “out hunting” for his next victim.
Wesley Brownlee was driving in the city of Stockton, where five of the murders took place, and was armed with a handgun, when he was stopped by police officers in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Investigators had been tracking the 43-year-old after receiving tips from members of the public.
“Based on tips coming into the department and Stockton Crime Stoppers, we were able to zero in on a possible suspect,” Police Chief Stanley McFadden said.
“Our surveillance team followed this person while he was driving. We watched his patterns and determined, early this morning, he was on a mission to kill.”
Mr McFadden added that Brownlee was detained after engaging in what appeared to be threatening behaviour, including going to parks and dark places, stopping and looking around before driving on.
He was dressed in black, had a mask around his neck, had a gun and “was out hunting”, the police chief said.
A police photo showed the weapon allegedly carried by the suspect, which appeared to be a semi-automatic handgun containing some non-metallic materials.
Brownlee is accused of shooting dead six men and wounding a woman in an 18-month killing spree in the Stockton and Oakland areas.
Stockton Police Chief Stanley McFadden speaks during a news conference
Who were the victims?
Juan Vasquez Serrano, 39, was the first victim to be killed in Oakland on 10 April 2021.
Just six days later, 46-year-old Natasha LaTour was shot in Stockton, but managed to survive after scaring off her attacker by walking towards them.
More than a year later, the killer struck again, shooting dead Paul Yaw, 35, on 8 July, then Salvador Debudey on 11 August, followed by 21-year-old Jonathan Hernandez Rodriguez on 30 August and 52-year-old Juan Cruz on 21 September.
Paul Yaw was the first of the Stockton victims to die. Pic: Greta Bogrow
The most recent victim was 54-year-old Lawrence Lopez, who died on 27 September.
Police believe the same person was responsible for all the shootings, with ballistics tests and video evidence linking the crimes together.
There was a $125,000 (£109,000) reward available for information leading to an arrest.
Lorenzo Lopez, the most recent victim, died on 27 September Pic: Jerry Lopez Family
Police said Brownlee has a criminal history and is believed to have also lived in several cities near Stockton, but they did not give further details.
Investigators have been trying to identify a motive for the attacks, with none of the victims appearing to have little in common.
Some of the victims were homeless, but not all. None were beaten or robbed, and the woman who survived said her attacker didn’t say anything.
A Mexican navy ship has hit the Brooklyn Bridge during a promotional tour in New York City.
The New York Fire Department said authorities were responding to injuries but had no details about how many people might have been hurt or whether they were on the vessel or on the bridge.
Sky’s US partner network NBC News reports that at least three people were seriously injured in the incident.
The Mexican navy said in a post on X that the Cuauhtemoc, an academy training vessel, was damaged in the accident, which has prevented it from continuing its voyage.
Eyewitness video of the collision posted online showed the mast of the ship, which was flying a large Mexican flag, scraping the underneath of the bridge.
Pic: AP
The vessel then drifted toward the edge of the river as onlookers scrambled away from shore.
The Mexican navy said the status of personnel and material was under review by naval and local authorities, which were providing assistance.
The Cuauhtemoc is about 297ft long and 40ft wide, according to the Mexican navy. It sailed for the first time in 1982.
Pic: AP
Each year, it sets out at the end of classes at the naval military school to finish cadets’ training.
It left the Mexican port of Acapulco, on the Pacific coast, on 6 April with 277 people onboard, the navy said at the time.
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One person has died in a bomb explosion near a reproductive health clinic in California, authorities have said.
The incident took place in Palm Springs, a city two hours east of Los Angeles, and is being investigated as a possible car explosion.
The city’s mayor Ron DeHarte said one person died in the blast, adding that the bomb was “either in or near” a vehicle. The deceased’s identity is not known, Palm Springs police said.
Dr Maher Abdallah, who runs the American Reproductive Centers clinic, told the Associated Press his facility was damaged but all staff were safe and accounted for.
The explosion damaged the office space where the practice conducts patient consultations, but the IVF lab and stored embryos were unharmed, he added.
“I really have no clue what happened,” he said. “Thank God today happened to be a day that we have no patients.”
Debris covers the ground after the explosion. Pic: ABC7 Los Angeles/AP
In a statement posted on Facebook the clinic said it was “heartbroken” to learn someone died in the explosion and added: “Our deepest condolences go out to the individuals and families affected.”
It continued: “Our mission has always been to help build families, and in times like these, we are reminded of just how fragile and precious life is.
“In the face of this tragedy, we remain committed to creating hope – because we believe that healing begins with community, compassion, and care.
The clinic will be fully operational on Monday, it added.
“This moment has shaken us – but it has not stopped us. We will continue to serve with strength, love, and the hope that brings new life into the world,” the statement concluded.
Pic: ABC7 Los Angeles/AP
The Palm Springs city government said in a post on Facebook that the explosion happened on North Indian Canyon Drive, near East Tachevah Drive, before 11am local time (6pm GMT).
A burned-out car can be seen in a parking lot behind the building in aerial footage.
The blast caved in the clinic’s roof and blew debris across four lanes of the road.
Another person said he was inside a cannabis dispensary nearby when he felt a massive explosion.
Nima Tabrizi said: “The building just shook, and we go outside and there’s massive cloud smoke.”
Investigators from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are travelling to the scene to help assess what happened.
California governor Gavin Newsom has been briefed on the explosion, his press office said.
A former FBI director has been interviewed by the US Secret Service over a social media post that Republicans say was a call for violence against President Donald Trump.
James Comey, who led the FBI from 2013 until he was fired in 2017 by Mr Trump during his first term in office, shared a photo of seashells appearing to form the numbers “86 47”.
James Comey later removed the Instagram post. File pic: AP
He captioned the Instagram post: “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”
Some have interpreted the post as a threat, alleging that 86 47 means to violently remove Mr Trump from office, including by assassination.
Mr Comey later removed the post, saying he thought the numbers “were a political message” and that he was not aware that the numeric arrangement could be associated with violence.
“I didn’t realise some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me, but I oppose violence of any kind, so I took the post down,” Mr Comey said.
Mr Trump rejected the former FBI director’s explanation, telling Fox News: “He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant… that meant assassination.”
Donald Trump Jr accused Mr Comey of “casually calling for my dad to be murdered”.
US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed in a post on X that Mr Comey had been interviewed as part of “an ongoing investigation” but gave no indication of whether he might face further action.
The Secret Service is part of the Department of Homeland Security.
White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich said Mr Comey had put out “what can clearly be interpreted as a hit on the sitting president of the United States”.
“This is deeply concerning to all of us and is being taken seriously,” Mr Budowich wrote on X.
Another White House official James Blair said the post was a “Clarion Call (…) to terrorists & hostile regimes to kill the President of the United States as he travels in the Middle East”.
Read more US news:
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Mr Trump fired Mr Comey in May 2017 for botching an investigation into 2016 democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, the White House said at the time.
While Mr Comey was the director of the FBI, the agency opened an investigation into possible collusion between the Trump 2016 presidential campaign and Russia to help get Mr Trump elected.
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