A woman who survived being a victim of a suspected serial killer believed to be linked to multiple deaths in and around Stockton, California said police investigators didn’t take her seriously when she reported the attack and acted as if they “just didn’t care.”
In an interview with 209 Times, Natasha LaTour said she told authorities about the night she nearly died on April 16, 2021. She was living in a tent in Stockton when around 3 a.m., she heard the sound of crunching gravel.
When she got out of the tent, a dark figure approached her. The assailant was wearing a black surgical mask and pointed a gun one-handed at her, she told the news publication. He allegedly fired on her as a nearby train passed by.
With nowhere to run, LaTour rushed the shooter, who dropped to a knee and still continued to fire, she said. She was struck nine or ten times before the suspect walked away without saying a word, she said. She was found by a couple driving by, she said.
STOCKTON SHOOTING MURDERS: POSSIBLE SERIAL KILLER SEEN IN NEW IMAGE AS POLICE OFFER $85K REWARD
Photo provided by the Stockton Police Department shows a “person of interest” in a series of murders. A woman who survived an attack in April 2021 said authorities seemed to not care about her experience.
(Stockton Police Department)
When LaTour reported the attack to Stockton police, the detectives seemed indifferent to her experience, she said.
“They basically treated me as if it was a drug deal gone bad,” she said. “As if I knew something that I wasn’t sharing. Throughout this process, ever since April, ever since I got out of the hospital, it was constantly me trying to reach them.”
She added that she didn’t “know if they believed it or not, but what I do know, and what’s been made very apparent, is that they just didn’t care.”
Last week, authorities released footage of a person of interest possibly linked to the killings of six people in the year since LaTour’s encounter.
The suspect was initially accused of fatally shooting Paul Yaw, 35; Salvador Debudey Jr., 43; Jonathan Hernandez Rodriguez, 21; Juan Cruz, 52; and Lawrence Lopez Sr., 54, over the last three months, with the most recent murder taking place Sept. 27.
Photo provided by Stockton Police Department shows a map showing the locations of each of the five murders.
(Stockton Police Department)
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Police have since announced, however, that the suspect is linked to additional incidents that occurred in April 2021, including the shooting of LaTour and the fatal shooting of an unnamed 40-year-old Hispanic man in Oakland on April 10.
Authorities said that many of the murders were committed in dark areas. A police spokesperson told Fox News that the department takes “all allegations seriously.”
“If someone was not satisfied with the level of police service they received, that person can contact our professional standards section,” he said.
