December 06, 2023 / By mobanmarket
LOS ANGELES, CA — A serial killer is preying upon people sleeping on the streets of Los Angeles, killing three men this week, the Los Angeles Police Department announced Friday.
The slayings began Sunday and continued through Wednesday, said Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore at a Friday afternoon press conference with the mayor and district attorney. Detectives believe the same man is hunting people who are homeless, shooting them out in the open as they sleep, according to Moore. Los Angeles city leaders are urging people living on the streets to seek shelter this week due to the threat.
A police task force has been created to catch the killer, and authorities are asking people to be on alert. Police are also increasing patrols to protect the city’s unhoused population.
“The commonality in these cases is that each of the victims were in an open area, whether a sidewalk or an alley, and they were alone,” Moore said. “And from other information we’ve gathered at this point. We believe a single individual approached each one and shot and killed each one as they slept.”
The shootings occurred in the early morning hours Sunday, Monday and Wednesday, officials said.
“Investigators have gathered physical evidence as well as video evidence — images and we’ve identified this possible male lone individual as well as a vehicle in each of the three cases,” Moore added.
According to Moore, the killer struck first at about 3 a.m. Sunday in the 800 block of West 110th Street. About 26 hours later, he struck again at about 5 a.m. Monday in the 800 block of East Seventh Street. His last shooting happened at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at South Avenue 18 and South Pasadena Avenue.
According to authorities, Jose Bolanos, 37, was the first victim followed by 62-year-old Mark Diggs. The latest victim was a 52-year-old man. His name was being withheld pending notification of his next of kin, Moore said.
The task force is working with neighboring cities to determine if the killer has struck elsewhere. In the meantime, police set up a tip line at 213-486- 6890 for anyone with information about the case.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued a stark warning to her city.
“I want to be very clear about what we’re facing today: This is a killer who is preying on the unhoused,” said Bass.
“This news is devastating to our city,” Bass said. “Living on the streets we already know is dangerous. We already know that four to five people die each day on our streets from a range of causes, and violence is certainly one of them…Our message to the unhoused community is clear — do not sleep alone tonight. Seek shelter. Seek services. Stay together.”
The city’s unhoused have been the target of killers many times in the past including another serial killer who beat five men to death as they slept over a two-week rampage in 2018 from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica. In that case, Ramon Escobar, 50, received multiple life sentences last year after pleading guilty to the fatal beatings of five men and injuring seven others.
In September of this year, he was charged with murdering his prison cellmate.
In April of 2022, police sought suspects in the shooting deaths of two homeless men in separate attacks in the Pacoima area.
In 2021 four homeless men were shot at an encampment in the Playa del Rey area, which resulted in an arrest
There have also been several shootings targeting residents of homeless encampments in the Venice area over the years, including two drive-by shootings at the same street corner in 2021.
In 2014, a man was convicted of murder and attempted murder for targeting and stabbing three homeless men in one day in Hollywood.
In 2018, an unhoused man and woman were attacked with battery acid while they slept in a Mission Hills area, prompting city leaders to urge state lawmakers to make unhoused people a protected class of hate crime victims.
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