Three shootings overnight in Stockton leave five people dead

Stockton homicide detectives were searching for suspects and motives Sunday in a series of apparently unrelated shootings overnight that left five people dead at three locations in the San Joaquin County city.

“Detectives believe none of these [incidents] are related to one another, and we will be pulling in additional resources including our multiagency law enforcement partners to assist with these investigations,” Stockton police said in a news release.

Victims’ names were not released pending notification of relatives, said Officer Joe Silva, a department spokesman. The shootings were “spread all over the city,” prompting a request to the state Department of Justice for help in processing evidence at one crime scene, he said.

The first shooting occurred just before midnight Saturday in the 1500 block of Bordeaux Avenue, where in the front yard of a home there, police found a 28-year-old man who had been shot. He died at a local hospital. Police arrested a relative and investigators were interviewing him Sunday.

Police later arrested a suspect they identified as Andy Hem, 21, who was related to the victim, authorities said. Hem was booked into the San Joaquin County Jail on suspicion of murder.

Within minutes of that call, police were sent to the 3200 block of Farmington Road, where they found a 26-year-old man dead from a gunshot wound.

“Witnesses heard gunfire and saw vehicles leaving the area,” possibly including a white Chrysler Sebring, police said. “Investigators are trying to determine if this was gang-related because the victim was a gang member.”

The third fatal shooting of the night occurred at about 3:34 a.m. in the 1100 block of East March Lane, where police found the bodies of a woman, 19, and two men, including one who also was 19. A 21-year-old man who was wounded was taken to a hospital where he was listed in stable condition Sunday, according to the news release.

Police said that “some type of dispute” precipitated the shooting. They were seeking a 21-year-old man with dreadlocks and wearing a red hat.

The killings brought Stockton’s homicide total for the year to 45, Silva said, including eight in just over a week.

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