A Riverside man wanted for two killings was detained early Thursday after he held a taco shop employee in Mission Hills hostage, officials said.
The suspect is believed to be connected to two fatal shootings that are part of a crime spree investigation spanning three counties just hours before, authorities said.
The employee in San Diego was working by himself just after midnight Thursday at the Eat Mexican Food restaurant in the 700 block of West Washington Street. That's when the suspect came inside and refused to leave after entering the kitchen area, looking for a bathroom, San Diego police said.
The employee said that the suspect put a gun to his chest and sat him down inside the restaurant.
Prior to being held down, the employee managed to call 911, triggering officers to respond. Then, the suspect walked out of the restaurant, holding the employee by the neck and surrendered. Officers detained the suspect.
Investigators said the suspect was wanted in connection to the killing of a man in Moreno Valley and the fatal shooting of a woman at a gas station in Colton.
Officers arrived around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at an Arco AMPM gas station in the 1200 block of Washington Street in Colton and found the woman suffering from gunshot wounds, according to the Colton Police Department. The victim was transported to a hospital where she died, police said.
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Around 5:53 p.m., sheriff's deputies responded to reports of an assault in the 23600 block of Lake Valley Drive in Moreno Valley and found a man dead of apparent gunshot wounds, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department. Two women were also injured in the Moreno Valley shooting.
Details regarding their conditions were not immediately available.
San Diego police had already been looking for the man after they found an abandoned stolen car from Riverside linked to the two homicide case.
