Police arrest one in Los Angeles family shooting

By GREG RISLING

Associated Press

DOWNEY, Calif. — A suspect was in custody after being arrested Friday in the killing of three people and wounding of two others in suburban Los Angeles, authorities said.

Jade Douglas Harris, 30, had been detained and questioned Thursday after a stolen black Camaro was found in Los Angeles, about 20 miles north of suburban Downey, where the shootings occurred.

Harris was booked Friday on charges of murder and non-negligent manslaughter, according to a review of Downey Police Department records by the Los Angeles Times. Jail records show that Harris was held in lieu of $1-million bail.

Police haven’t given a motive but said they don’t believe the killings were a random act of violence.

The three people killed were Josimar Rojas, 26, Irene Cardenas, 35, and Susana Perez-Ruelas, 34. The two injured were Perez-Ruelas’ 13-year-old son and a middle-age woman.

The suspect had gone to the shop Wednesday after responding to an ad on Craigslist for the Camaro, said Martha Zerehi, a spokeswoman for the business.

After killing two and wounding another at a Downey business, the gunman grabbed Perez-Ruelas and her son Antonio and took them to the nearby family home, where the Camaro was, Zerehi said.

She said the gunman threatened to kill the boy. Perez-Ruelas pushed the gunman “really hard and out of rage, he killed her in front of the boy and then shot the boy,” Zerehi said.

The boy played dead or unconscious and the gunman fled, she said.

Records show the business is registered to Robert Salinas and the home where the second shooting took place is owned by his brother, Antonio, who is Perez-Ruelas’ husband.

Arshak Bartoumian, a lawyer for the family, said at a news conference that the shootings were not drug-related, and the family wanted to clear the air following false media reports.