Who Is Wesley Brownlee? What We Know About Suspected Stockton Serial Killer

Authorities arrested Wesley Brownlee in the early hours of Saturday morning in Stockton, California. He is suspected of killing six people in the city and one in Oakland over 18 months.

Police said Brownlee, 43, had a criminal history in California and Arizona connected with past drug violations, traffic violations and a DUI. He has believed to have lived in Stockton on and off.

Brownlee was being followed by a police surveillance team, who allege that at around 2 a.m. on Saturday, he was out "hunting" for people to kill, Stockton Police Chief Stanley McFadden said at a news conference on Saturday.

"His patterns were consistent with some of the patterns that we have seen," McFadden said. "[He was] around parks, around dark places, stopping, looking around, moving again. And at that point, we thought, for the safety of the public, it was best to take this person in."

The police chief said he believed that his team stopped another killing.

He said that Brownlee was wearing dark clothing, had a mask around his neck, and had a firearm when he was taken into custody, consistent with surveillance footage showing the suspect of the seven killings wearing the same clothes.

Authorities announced earlier this month that there was a $115,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Police officials said that tips from the community helped them catch Brownlee.

"To the community, thank you for everything that you've done. Thank you for stepping up, thank you for exercising your voice, thank you for submitting the hundreds of tips that have come in on a daily basis," Stockton Mayor Kevin Lincoln said. "This could not have been done, and today would not have been possible without you."

Who were the victims?

The first known victim was Juan Vasquez Serrano, 40, who was shot and killed in Oakland on April 10, 2021. Six days later, a 46-year-old Black woman, who was homeless, heard someone walking around her tent at 3:20 a.m. in Stockton. She told investigators that she saw a man who was about 6 feet tall, wearing a dark face mask and dark clothing. She said the man tried to shoot her but she was able to defend herself and survived.

On July 8 this year, Paul Yaw, 35, was shot in a park off Kermit Lane in Stockton.

Since then, the suspected killer has shot dead two Hispanic men each month. Salvador Debudey Jr., 43, and Jonathan Hernandez Rodriguez, 21, were killed in August; Juan Cruz, 52, and Lawrence Lopez Sr. were killed in September.

With ballistics tests and surveillance video, police earlier in October linked these seven killings to one serial killer, who they believe is Brownlee.

The motives were unclear but five of the victims of the seven shootings were Hispanic men and four of the victims were homeless. Stockton police do not believe that these were hate crimes.

Police released surveillance footage of the suspect earlier this month and the person also had a distinct duck walk or limp.

Newsweek reached out to the Stockton police department for comment.