Police last week arrested an 81-year-old Southern California man they described as a “serial slingshot shooter” who allegedly victimized his neighbors for about a decade.
Azusa police said they responded to a “quality of life issue” in the 900 block of North Enid Avenue and learned that over the past nine to 10 years, “dozens of citizens had been victims of a serial slingshot shooter.”
The man broke windows and windshields with his weapon and sometimes almost hit people, police said. Prisoner records show that the suspect, Prince King, is 81 years old. Police have not named an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
Police served a search warrant Thursday in the area where the slingshot attacks occurred and ultimately arrested King. According to police, ball bearings and a slingshot were found at his home.
Azusa Police Lt. Jake Bushey told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune that police began investigating after the first slingshot incident but had so far been unable to identify a suspect. Bushey said Saturday that he was unsure how King was ultimately identified, but that detectives learned that most of the ball bearings came from King’s backyard or “a nearby neighborhood.”
Police have not identified a motive other than pure malicious mischief, Bushey said, according to the Tribune.
Bushey added that the shots were not random, although he did not know why certain people or property were targeted, the newspaper reported.
Some commenters on the police Facebook post said their car windows had been shot out, but they were unsure King was the perpetrator.
King’s next court hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
