An 81-year-old man from Southern California was detained by police last week; he was identified as a “serial slingshot shooter” and is said to have been harming his neighbors for almost ten years.
When Azusa police went to a “quality of life issue” in the 900 block of North Enid Avenue, they discovered that “dozens of citizens were being victimized by a serial slingshot shooter” for the previous nine to ten years.
Police claimed the man used his weapon to smash windows and windshields and occasionally came dangerously close to hitting bystanders. According to prison records, Prince King, the suspect, is eighty-one years old. An counsel who could remark on his behalf was not listed by the police.
King was eventually taken into custody by police after they executed a search warrant at the neighborhood where the slingshot attacks were occurring on Thursday. Ball bearings and a slingshot were allegedly discovered at his house by police.
Lt. Jake Bushey of the Azusa police department told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune that although they had started an investigation following the initial slingshot incident, they had not yet been able to identify a suspect. Although Bushey stated on Saturday that he wasn’t sure how King was finally identified, he did reveal that officers had discovered that the majority of the ball bearings were coming from “a nearby neighborhood” or King’s backyard.
According to Bushey, police haven’t determined a reason “other than just malicious mischief,” as reported by the Tribune.
According to the publication, Bushey stated that the gunfire wasn’t random, even though he didn’t know why particular individuals or buildings were targeted.
On the police department’s Facebook page, some people left comments claiming that their car windows had been shot out, but they weren’t positive King was the shooter.
The following court appearance for King is set for Tuesday.
