By Richard Winton and Wesley Lowery, Los Angeles Times –
LOS ANGELES—Downey police have arrested a man and booked him in connection with the deaths of three people killed in a shooting rampage earlier this week.
Jade Douglas Harris, 30, was arrested on suspicion of murder and non-negligent manslaughter, according to the Downey police blotter. He is being held at Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles on $1-million bail.
Harris was formally booked Friday morning after being taken into custody and questioned the day before, authorities said. Police had previously said he matched the description of the gunman.
Police are still trying to determine a motive for the shootings.
The family targeted described the shooting as a violent car robbery.
At a news conference Friday, an attorney for the family decried the killings as senseless. “They have not been able to fully grieve for the loss of life,” attorney Arshak Bartoumian said. “As you can understand, they are in shock.”
A family spokeswoman, Martha Zerehi, said the gunman responded to a Craigslist ad for a Chevrolet Camaro.
He arrived at the family’s business, United States Fire Protection Services, on Cleta Street about 11 a.m. Wednesday. He was allowed to enter through the front door, which is usually kept locked, relatives said.
The man drew a handgun and demanded the car, Zerehi said. He forced a male worker to tie up the two women, one of whom was the mother of the firm’s owners, Robert and Antonio Salinas. The gunman was told that the car was not at the business but down the street at the family home.
At some point, Susana Perez, another family member, walked in with her 13-year-old son, whom she had picked up early from school for a dental appointment.
The suspect shot and killed two employees, Josimar Rojas, 26, of Downey and Irene Cardenas, 35, of Cudahy.
Maria Fuentes, 52, a member of the Salinas family, was shot in the face and hand and remains hospitalized in serious condition, Bartoumian said.
Then, Perez and her son were ordered to drive the gunman to the home. Once there, Zerehi said, the suspect held a gun to the boy’s head and threatened to kill him.
“Do you know how easy it is to kill you right now?” the gunman reportedly asked. Perez tried to push the gun away to save her son, but was shot and killed, Zehri said.
Before fleeing in the stolen Camaro, the suspect turned and shot the boy, who pretended he was dead or unconscious, Zehri said.
“He played dead to live,” Zerehi said. The gunman “thought he killed everybody.”
