And tonight, Stockton police are still
searching for the person or persons
that they believe are responsible for
shooting and killing six people now,
all the crimes happening in the
dark when people were all alone.
Police say the first known
killing was on April 10th, 2021.
A 39 year old in Oakland was shot
and killed at 4:18 in the morning.
Six days later, on April 16th,
an unhoused woman survived a shooting at
Park and Union Street in South Stockton.
On July 8th, 202235 year old Paul
Yall was shot and killed in Stockton
on Kermit Lane late this summer.
On August 11th,
43 year old Salvador de Beauty junior
was killed off West Lane near March Lane.
On August 30th just before 7:00 in the
morning 21 year old Jonathan Hernandez
Rodriguez was killed on East Hammer Lane
near Tamo Shanter Drive.
On September 21st 52 year old Juan
Cruz was killed on Manchester Ave.
And six days later, on September 27th,
54 year old Lawrence Lopez senior was
killed on Porter Ave near Gettysburg Place.
And right now Stockton Mayor Kevin Lincoln
is hosting a public safety town hall with
community group Faith in the valley.
They are addressing concerns as the search
continues for a possible serial killer.
ABC 10 is there tonight and you
can also watch this on faith
in the Valley's Facebook page.
They did tell me earlier today that
they have Spanish speaking translators
so that all community members can
be a part of this situation because
Stockton is on edge right now.
There's rising violence in the in the
city and I also went down to Stockton.
Today to speak with Mayor Kevin
Lincoln and community organizer
Tony McNeil one-on-one to really
find out what's going on.
If you had to say one thing.
To those family members who were
impacted by this string of killings,
what would you say to them right now?
There's no words that I can say right now.
There's nothing that I can or this city
could physically do right now that will
bring back the loved one that you lost.
But you can rest assure that this city is
not going to leave one stone unturned.
And what about for the people of Stockton
who are concerned or really making sure
their doors are locked at night or?
You know, they're looking over their
shoulder when they go to the grocery store.
What do you say to those people
who are living here and living
in this every single day?
What I say to those people is.
Public safety.
Will always remain my top priority
as mayor of the city of Stockton.
It's going to always remain the top
priority of every single elected
official for this city and our staff.
It will always remain the top priority.
But what I also would say to the public
is that we can't do this without you. So
when you say crime, it's going into
crime prevention is what you're saying.
What does that look like? Does that
look like more law
enforcement on the streets?
Does it look like programs?
What? I guess what are
specific tangible examples?
It looks like more law enforcement
officers on the street.
It looks like the ability for us
to do community outreach, the
ability to engage our trusted community
partners when it comes to violence.
Reduction intervention efforts
and ultimately prevention
and do you feel like the money
gained from that measure,
do you feel like it's helping?
Absolutely, absolutely.
When our cease-fire,
our motto was initially introduced
in early 2012 time frame,
we've seen a drastic
reduction in homicides and
overall crime over the years.
202012 was the peak for the city
of Stockton with 71 homicides.
This year we have 43 homicides.
Date. But you'll see over the
years as you look at the trend,
there's crime and homicides.
It goes and ebbs and flows.
Just two miles down the street from
Stockton City Hall, I met up with
community leader Tony McNeil of Faith in
the valley, in the community.
Are people nervous?
Are they scared?
I mean, are people really
locking their doors at night?
What's the sentiment right now? Yeah,
so people really are locking their doors.
People really are nervous,
even the folks on the block.
So homies on the street
going home there either.
Trying to make sure that they're not outside,
you know, being like misrepresented
or targeted by law enforcement.
Right. Because, you know,
you've got a profile.
But, I mean, you know,
anybody in that height and
description might fit that profile.
So it's like you don't want to be found
in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Do you feel like between crime
prevention and law enforcement,
do you feel like they're
stepping up in a real way?
I do feel like they're there and
that they are fully present.
Then this is.
And this is unique and asking that
question because to be fully transparent,
I've been organizing for six years
and we've had highs and lows.
You know, when it's come to blows, yeah,
when it comes to our relationship and the
community and now I'm not talking about,
I'm not talking about,
I'm talking about communities of
colors that are over policed.
That are marginalized.
I'm talking about my Latino brothers
and sisters and and and my black
brothers and sisters and Southeast Asian
communities that are impoverished,
you know,
and tend to be in hot spots
and and we see law enforcement
show up in a different way.
Now, right now,
in this particular moment,
even the hotspot communities have
shared feedback that they feel like
law enforcement is showing up, right?
That's. Huge.
That's huge.
For black and brown people to
feel like the Stockton PD is is
present when they need them to be,
as opposed to when they don't
need them to be. That's huge.
That says a lot and we appreciate news.
News is great, all of that.
It really is.
But it's one thing then,
when you have leadership coming together
to specifically address you in person,
it gives a different resolve
and a different sense of safety,
a different sense of of awareness.
And it doesn't leave so much
room for their imagination.
And so even for me as an organizer
just wanting to make sure
that that I'm creating space,
I just need my Spanish
speaking brothers and sisters.
We know that they belong here and
that they're part of this community,
that we see them, that we love them,
and that we are fiercely advocating for them.
And their voices matter.
Their voices matter. Yeah.
Tony, thank you so much.
We appreciate it.
I also spoke to Tony about the
narrative around crime and Stockton,
where a lot of people are just saying ohh,
this is Stockton, you know,
we've seen people saying that online and,
you know, writing about it.
And she says that Stockton is the
bull that has just really caught
people that have been pushed
out of other cities that they
can't afford to live in anymore.
She says Stockton does not get a
lot of resources and that it's just
dealing with a lot of problems.