Man charged with double murder in shootings on Livermore street

A Livermore man has been charged with spe-cial-circumstances murder in the shooting deaths of two men that stemmed from an illegal gun sale, authorities said Thursday.

James Wear, 28, was arrested on a probation violation on March 1, the same day that Ryan Rossknecht, 22, of Livermore and 29- year- old Manteca resident Brandon Lowell were shot to death on normally quiet Altamont Creek Drive.

At the time, authorities said they needed more time to review the case. On Thursday, Livermore police said they had since found more evidence linking Wear to the slayings.

Alameda County prosecutors charged Wear with two counts of murder along with the special circumstance of committing multiple murder. They also charged him with being a felon in possession of a gun and possession of heroin for sale, saying he had more than 2 ounces of the drug on him.

If convicted, Wear could face life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.

Wear had met with the two victims to exchange “contraband,” police said. Wear later told police that Lowell wanted to buy a gun from Rossknecht and that an argument erupted between the two men, Livermore police Detective Glen Robbins wrote in a court affidavit.

Wear said he saw Rossknecht shoot Lowell before Lowell managed to wrestle the gun away and shoot Rossknecht, Robbins wrote.

But the detective added, “Wear’s statement was not consistent with the information obtained from his father and the evidence located at the scene.”

Rossknecht died at the scene, and Lowell died at a hospital, said Officer Traci Rebiejo, a Livermore police spokeswoman.

Wear sped off from the scene and went to his father’s house in Stockton wearing bloody shoes, telling him that he had shot a man after the man had shot his friend, police said. The suspect left his father’s house, and officers found him driving in Livermore after “pinging” his cell phone, authorities said.

Wear, who has a previous conviction for grand theft, resisted the officers, who unleashed a dog that bit him during the arrest, Rebiejo said. Citizens later found a gun linked to the case in a parking lot less than a mile from the shooting, Rebiejo said.

Police said the victims and suspect had no connection to the neighborhood and that it was unclear what brought them there.