Five killings in Stockton may be work of serial killer, police say

A serial killer may have ambushed five men in separate incidents in Stockton over the past few months, shooting them to death alone in the dark.

“By definition, you could probably very well call this serial killings,” Stockton Police Chief Stanley McFadden said in a video from the Associated Press..

Police remain unclear about why the victims were targeted. None were robbed or beaten, and the killings all took place within a few square miles of each other.

Also, the victims did not appear to have known each other, Stockton Police Officer Joseph Silva told the Associated Press Monday.

The shootings do not seem to be related to gangs or drugs, either.

Stockton police have announced an $85,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the slayings, which date back to July 8. The owner of a local construction company has kicked in another $10,000 to up the reward.

Authorities released a grainy still image of a “person of interest,” dressed all in black and wearing a black cap, taken from a security camera at one of the crime scenes (see video above).

The latest killing occurred shortly before 2 a.m. Sept. 27, when a 54-year-old man was shot in a residential area just north of downtown.

The ages of the victims range from 21 to 54; four of the men were Hispanic and one was white.

On Tuesday, the shooting death of Juan Miguel Vasquez Serrano, 40, on Harmon Avenue in Oakland was connected to the violence in Stockton, KTVU reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.