Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Police in Stockton, Calif., have linked two 2021 shootings to the slaying of five men earlier this year.
In April 2021, a 46-year-old woman was wounded in Stockton and a 40-year-old man was killed in Oakland. Both were attacked between the hours of 3 and 5 a.m. -- similar to the time and near the places where five other men were killed between July 8 and Sept. 27 of this year.
The San Joaquin County medical examiner's officer identified the five 2022 victims as Paul Alexander Yaw, 35; Salvador Debudey, 43; Jonathan Hernandez Rodriguez, 21; Juan Cruz, 52; and Lawrence Lopez Sr., 54. Family members said Yaw and Lopez were homeless.
Police have also increased the reward for information in the case to $95,000 after a local business owner made a contribution.
The 2022 slayings occurred within an area of just over two square miles of the Lakeview and Valley Oak districts of Stockton.
