On Saturday, Stockton Police Chief Stanley McFadden announced the arrest of a suspect described as a “serial killer” in the City of Stockton and possibly died to killings in the City of Oakland. Police announced the arrest of Wesley Brownlee, 43, for homicide
Previously, the Stockton Police Department announced a $125k reward leading to the arrest of the suspect.
Based on the investigation and the reports they are receiving, they believe the following homicide cases are related:
- April 10, 2021 shooting death of a 40-year-old Hispanic man in Oakland, California. Time of occurrence was 4:18 am.
- April 16, 2021 shooting of a 46-year-old black woman at Park Street and Union Street in Stockton. The woman survived her injuries. Time of occurrence was 3:20 am.
- July 8, 2022, shooting death of a 35-year-old white man that occurred in the 5600 block of Kermit Lane. The time of occurrence was 12:31 am.
- August 11, 2022, shooting death of a 43-year-old Hispanic man that occurred in the 4900 block of West Lane. The time of occurrence was 9:49pm.
- August 30, 2022, shooting death of a 21-year-old Hispanic man in the 800 block E. Hammer Lane. The time of occurrence was 6:41 am.
- September 21, 2022, shooting death of a 52-year-old Hispanic man in the 4400 block of Manchester Avenue. The time of occurrence was 4:27 am.
- September 27, 2022, shooting death of a 54-year-old Hispanic man in the 900 block of Porter Avenue. The time of occurrence was 1:53 am.
SPD News: Message from Chief Stanley McFadden regarding Homicide Series
I have a major announcement in our homicide series investigation. An arrest has been made!!!! Before I go into details of the arrest, I want to thank the men and women of the Stockton Police Department and our law enforcement partners who have been working on this investigation:
San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office, San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigations, San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office, San Joaquin County Probation Department, Lodi Police Department, Manteca Police Department, Lathrop Police Department, Tracy Police Department, Oakland Police Department, California Highway Patrol, California Department of Justice, California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation Parole, Chicago Illinois Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, ATF, and United States Marshals.
I also want to thank our law enforcement families for supporting their loved ones who were dedicated and spent many hours away from home to investigate this homicide series.
To our Task Force Team, all of you have worked tirelessly around the clock to make this arrest happen. Your effort was second to none, and I could not be any prouder of each and everyone one of you. To our Detectives, Evidence Technicians, Task Force Officers, Dispatchers, Records Personnel, and District Attorneys thank you from the bottom of my heart. Our work is not done though as this is still a very active investigation.
Now for the arrest details. Please remember, I can only provide limited information for the integrity of the investigation. Just because an arrest was made, does not mean the investigation stops. We now have to have a successful prosecution for our victims and their families. For the last two days, I have met with our victims’ families. I can’t go into our conversations, but our talks were very emotional, and they want justice.
I am honored to tell them and all of you that we have an all-star team of District Attorneys and Lead Detectives who will be bringing justice for our victims, their families, and the entire community that this cold-blooded killer terrorized.
This arrest happened in two parts. One was community tips and the second was good old fashion police work.
This arrest happened from two parts. One was community tips and the second was good old fashion police work.
Based on tips coming into the department and Stockton Crime Stoppers, we were able to zero in on a possible suspect. Our surveillance team followed this person while he was driving. We watched his patterns and determined early this morning; he was on a mission to kill. He was out hunting. He was stopped by our own team in the area of Village Green Drive and Winslow Avenue around 2 am this morning.
Based off tips coming into the department and Stockton Crime Stoppers, we were able to zero in on a possible suspect. Our surveillance team followed this person while he was driving. We watched his patterns and determined early this morning; he was on a mission to kill. He was out hunting. He was stopped by our own team in the area of Village Green Drive and Winslow Avenue around 2 am this morning.
As officers made contact with him, he was wearing dark clothing and a mask around his neck. He was also armed with a firearm when he was taken into custody. We are sure we stopped another killing. Arrested was Wesley Brownlee, 43, for homicide. The San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office will be reviewing this investigation and will make the appropriate charges.
I want all of you to know how seriously I take these types of investigations. This morning, when SWAT team members hit Wesley’s apartment so Homicide Detectives could serve a search warrant, I was there with them.
Now I would also like to thank each of you from the media. Thank you for the news coverage, thank you for the social media stories, and thank you for keeping our victims’ memories alive during your coverage. You and our community also played a part in this arrest. We still need more tips to come in though. If anyone has information about Wesley and this investigation, please get those to our investigators.
The Stockton Police Department is encouraging anyone with information to call our tip line at (209) 937-8167. You can also email your information to [email protected].
You can submit anonymous tips to Stockton Crime Stoppers by:
- TYPE – Submit a Tip online using the Stockton Crime Stoppers website at StocktonCrimeStoppers.org.
- TALK – Call Stockton Crime Stoppers at (209) 946-0600.
- DOWNLOAD the P3 Tips Mobile App and submit tips anonymously.
