Sheriff: Shooting rampage that killed six is ‘the new normal’

A gunman’s bloody rampage through Bakersfield may have been triggered by a love triangle involving the shooter, his estranged wife and a co-worker, a stunned witness said Thursday.

As investigators attempt to reconstruct the violent sequence of events that left six people dead, including the gunman, Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood told reporters that the episode appeared to be part of a national trend.

“This is the new normal if you look across the country at these types of shootings,” Youngblood told reporters at a news conference.

The shootings occurred at multiple locations spanning roughly three miles beginning shortly before 5:20 p.m. local time Wednesday. That’s when the gunman, identified by authorities as Javier Casarez, 54, opened fire on his ex-wife, Petra Maribel Bolanos De Casarez, 45, and Manuel Contreras, 50, inside the T&T Trucking company on Manwell Boulevard and killed them both.

Manny Meza, a driver at another trucking business just steps away, said he was at work Wednesday when he heard popping sounds outside. He thought the first shot might have been a tire blowout, but when he stepped outside to investigate he saw the gunman chasing a man and firing.

“He was shooting rounds at the man and chasing him in a circle,” Meza said. “It’s not something I thought I’d ever see. This is not normal.” vehicular damage.

The two incidents prompted the state to launch ongoing emergency overnight repairs, and to conduct a review of the rest of the freeway between the area of the two August incidents and as far south as Pocket Road for problems.

Spokesman Dennis Keaton said the review, which is still in progress, has found 70 more slabs in need of work. Crews were to be sent out again Wednesday night to continue surveying the freeway.

As a result of the discoveries, Caltrans expects to continue to close some freeway lanes at night later this week and next week for repairs. The agency has not yet published a detailed schedule of nights or hours.

Keaton said the sunken section of the freeway downtown, known as the “boat section,” remains in good repair. Caltrans spent $40 million in 2008 to rehab that portion of the freeway.