California gunman kills ex-wife, 4 others and himself

LOS ANGELES — A gunman in Southern California fatally shot his ex-wife and a man at a trucking company before chasing after another man, killing him, and then driving to a home where he shot dead a father and daughter in a nearly 40-minute rampage.

Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood identified the killer as 54-year-old Javier Casarez at a news conference about the shootings that claimed five victims in Bakersfield, about 90 miles north of Los Angeles.

Casarez fatally shot himself in the chest as a deputy closed in on him shortly after the shooting.

Court records show Casarez filed for a divorce from his wife, Petra Maribel Bolanos de Casarez, in December and that it was finalized April 12.

Bolanos recently filed for a change involving child support and custody over the couple’s two teenage children, and the pair had a hearing set for Oct. 11, court records show.

Youngblood said it appears Casarez targeted every victim, starting with a worker at T & T Trucking, and that domestic violence appears to have played a large part.

“It appears to be there’s more than just husband and wife having a fight because other people were targeted,” he said. “There’s a reason for that and we need to find that reason.”

Casarez likely took his ex-wife to the trucking company against her will and then fatally shot 50-year-old Manuel Contreras with a .50-caliber handgun. He shot his ex-wife and then turned the gun on a second man, 50-year-old Antonio Valadez, the sheriff’s department said.

Casarez fired at Valadez as he ran away, but then tracked him down in his car and killed him, the sheriff said.

Casarez then drove to the house of 57-year-old Eliseo Garcia Cazares, who Youngblood identified as a friend. Casarez fatally shot Garcia and his daughter, 31-year-old Laura Garcia, who may have been collateral damage.

“She may have tried to intervene to keep the suspect from approaching her father, and he shot and killed both of them,” Youngblood said.

After the shooting at the Garcia home, Casarez carjacked a woman driving with her child. The woman and child escaped, and Casarez drove to a highway where a sheriff’s deputy saw him, Youngblood said.

As the deputy closed in, yelling at Casarez to drop his gun, Casarez fatally shot himself in the chest, body camera footage released by police shows.

From the first to last shot fired, just 37 minutes passed.

David Bunting, who said he’s a friend of Eliseo Garcia Cazares and lives two doors down from him, said he has no idea why his neighbor would have been targeted.

He said Garcia was a selfemployed truck driver who always was with his grandkids when not working, often driving them around on his golf cart.

“He’s a really nice guy. I can’t say enough good things about him,” Bunting said. “It’s kind of a shock because of the kind of a person he was.”

He said his daughter Laura was a mother of four and most of the Garcias’ large family was home at the time of the shooting. He said they’re devastated and in shock.