LIVERMORE — An Oakland teenager wanted in a fatal shooting Saturday in Livermore is also a named suspect in a Fresno homicide, and could also be linked to a recent Sacramento slaying, authorities said.
Livermore police have obtained a no-bail arrest warrant for Jason Alexander Brown, 18, on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, Sgt. Steve Goard said. He is suspected of killing one person and wounding another Saturday night after firing a high-powered rifle at a car outside a CVS Pharmacy at 1500 1st St., Goard said.
Brown also is wanted in the killing of 27-year-old Albert Thao in a Fresno restaurant on Sept. 12, authorities said. Fresno police have issued a $1 million probable cause warrant for Brown in that slaying, Lt. Burke Farrah said.
Brown is a possible suspect in the Sept. 28 slaying of 53-year-old Walter Michael Gibson in Sacramento, law enforcement sources said.
Authorities said they have not ruled out the possibility that the Sacramento slaying was related to drugs.
In the Livermore killing, officers found the two victims in the pharmacy parking lot at 6:05 p.m. Saturday. The driver, Jose Mendoza, 32, of Turlock, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The car passenger, Ulizes Benitez, 22, of Turlock, was hit by multiple gunshots and underwent emergency surgery over the weekend, police said. He was in critical condition on Monday afternoon, police said.
Police are on the lookout for Brown and an unidentified second suspect who fled in a 2006 BMW 325i with a California license plate: 5PLR682. The car is black and has red racing stripes on the hood, police said.
The California Highway Patrol spotted the BMW on westbound Interstate 580 in the San Leandro area Saturday night and started a pursuit that led to Oakland, Goard said. The CHP lost the car during the chase.
Police found the vehicle behind a house in Oakland, but the suspects were not inside, according to a KTVU report. A SWAT team surrounded the house overnight but discovered Sunday morning that the suspected assailants were not in the home, the station reported.
Detectives on Sunday searched Brown’s Oakland residence on Center Street, near the West Oakland BART station. They did not find Brown but recovered and impounded the BMW, police said.
Livermore police is asking for the community’s help in finding the suspects, who might be armed with a large-caliber assault rifle.
Police have not provided a detailed description of Brown or the second suspected assailant.
Anyone who has information about the whereabouts of the suspects or their vehicle is asked to call 911 or 925-371-4777.
The homicide was the fourth in Livermore this year.
Staff writers Harry Harris, Rick Hurd, Tom Lochner and Katrina Cameron contributed to this report.
