Authorities arrested a man who they allege fired at and wounded multiple people while on a two-state shooting rampage that ended Tuesday morning near the California desert town of Baker.
The shooting spree is believed to have started Monday night in Blue Diamond, Nev., and continued south into California, where the 35-year-old suspect was taken into custody, according to authorities.
In the attacks, the suspect is believed to have shot at people asleep in their vehicles, but it’s unclear what sparked the shooting or why the victims were targeted.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department announced in a statement that deputies had detained Antonio Chaidez, who allegedly fired a gun at multiple locations through unincorporated county areas near the California-Nevada border, injuring several people.
Las Vegas law enforcement began looking for Chaidez Monday evening in Blue Diamond, after Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officials suspect he fired multiple times toward a victim who was asleep in his truck.
The incident occurred at about 10:25 p.m., police said in a statement, in the 13500 block of Blue Diamond Road. The victim was not harmed.
A few hours later, officials believe Chaidez was involved in a second shooting in Jean, Nev.
Sometime around 2 a.m., a man told Las Vegas Metropolitan Police he was asleep in his car when a man began to shoot at him. He was uninjured, but the suspect fled.
A few minutes later, a third shooting was reported in California.
San Bernardino deputies found a man about 2:30 a.m. who they believed was shot in his car while sleeping. He was located off Cima Road, not far from the Halloran Springs area, according to the statement, which didn’t disclose the man’s condition.
Roughly 10 minutes later, deputies responded to another shooting, this time at the Chevron gas station in Baker.
Authorities allege Chaidez fired several rounds inside the gas station through a back door and hit a clerk. He also is alleged to have shot into two parked big rigs, hitting one of the drivers.
All three victims were taken to local hospitals. Their status is unknown.
Deputies said Chaidez was driving a black truck; they spotted his vehicle heading south on the 15 Freeway. They pursued him near Afton Road and arrested him, without incident, about 20 miles away.
