Shooting rampage stuns Banning; 2 dead, motive unclear

It began just after 11:36 a.m. here in a residential neighborhood that lies beside the railroad tracks not far from Interstate 10.

There, police say, someone in a white SUV shot at a passing vehicle, killing the driver and wounding a passenger.

Seven minutes later and about a mile away, police got word that, again, someone in a white SUV had shot at a driver. This time the victim escaped with minor injuries from shattered glass that struck her face and arms.

The rash of violence continued as the gunman made his way to an AM/PM convenience store near the 22nd Street freeway exit and assaulted a man with his fists and a blunt object around 11:53 a.m. Authorities declined to specify what type of weapon it was.

In all three cases, the surviving victims reported seeing a man in a blue T-shirt and sunglasses driving a white SUV, police said.

Just before 12:13 p.m., authorities found a crashed vehicle in the 200 block of East Lincoln Street in Banning. The driver was dead, and his body showed injuries consistent with gunshot wounds, police said.

The suspect, whose name has not been released, was taken into custody a short time later. He was arrested by police in the nearby town of Beaumont.

The rampage stunned those in Banning, a small city of about 30,000 people in the San Gorgonio Pass in Riverside County. The city is situated along I-10 on the road to Palm Springs, about 30 miles to the east. Banning is about 100 miles east of Los Angeles.

Banning was a sleepy outpost for years, but its population has more than doubled since 1980 as suburban growth has pushed east.

Banning Police Chief Alex Diaz struggled to make sense of the string of violent events.

“At this point, it seems like it’s random. There is no correlation between the victims and the suspect at this point,” Diaz said at an evening news conference.

“This isn’t something that happens in small towns like Banning,” he said.

About an hour after police announced that a suspect had been caught, tensions rose again when police received reports that someone with a gun was threatening customers at an Arco gas station convenience store along the freeway in Banning.

Oscar Reza said he was discussing the rash of shootings with a store clerk at the convenience store when a man with a gun under his shirt began threatening him and others.

“It’s crazy weather, I’ll tell you that,” Reza said.

That suspect, who also was driving a white SUV, was quickly arrested by Banning police.

Police do not believe he was involved in the earlier violence, Diaz said; the suspect’s vehicle was smaller than the one police believe belonged to the shooter.

The first victim of the shooting spree was identified late Saturday night. Diaz said the gunned-down driver was Paul Lesh, whose age was not immediately available.

After the first attacks, police said they received reports that a man was knocking on doors of homes in Beaumont and asking whether anyone knew about his children. Police believe that was the same person involved in the earlier shootings.

At 12:25 p.m., he broke the window and door handle of a car that had a woman and children inside in the 1300 block of 8th Street.

Shortly afterward, Beaumont officers found him in a Chevy Tahoe, authorities said. They pulled over the SUV and arrested him.

Police could not say what type of gun was used in the attacks because they were waiting on a search warrant.

Aside from Lesh, none of the names of the victims have been released.

As word began to spread that the shooting suspect had been arrested, some residents who had stayed indoors began venturing out.

Parents walked with their children to the market. A long line of families waited outside the town movie theater to watch “Hotel Transylvania 2.”

“This is something I don’t believe would happen in Banning,” said Jose Espinoza, 58, who owns a local salon.

“I’ve known this town for 21 years. It’s peaceful. Everyone knows each other,” he said.

paloma.esquivel@latimes.com

Twitter: @palomaesquivel

alice.walton@latimes.com

Twitter: @TheCityMaven

Esquivel reported from Banning and Walton from Los Angeles.