Two homicides and a hit-and-run fatality spoiled the holiday weekend in Stockton.
On Tuesday, Stockton police detectives were investigating the cases as the San Joaquin County Medical Examiner’s office identified the victims — two Stockton men and a British woman, all killed in separate incidents.
The deaths began just after midnight Saturday when two men, ages 19 and 30, were shot in the 3100 block of east Main Street, the city’s Park District. The older victim, identified as Richard Galindo, of Stockton, died after being rushed to a hospital.
“Unfortunately, no suspect information (yet) from the incident involving the 30-year-old victim, however, our detectives are following up on leads,” Officer Omer Edhah, a police spokesperson, told Stocktonia.
Then a day later, another homicide. This time it was a 60-year-old found suffering from a gunshot wound at 8:30 a.m. Sunday at Hazelton Avenue and Harrison Street in Stockton’s Seaport District.
Authorities said responding officers did their best to save Pete Valverde of Stockton — as he was later identified by the medical examiner — but he, too, died at a local hospital.
In that case, a suspect was identified: About 5 p.m. that day, the Stockton Police Department’s Gang Street Enforcement Team and San Joaquin County sheriff’s deputies located and arrested James Allen, 72, during a traffic stop. He was booked on suspicion of homicide and drug charges, according to officers.
“The incidents that occurred over the weekend do not appear to be related and were isolated in nature. We have added visibility and proactive measure in the impacted areas, and as a result, a homicide suspect was apprehended in less than 10 hours,” Edhah said.
The two homicides marked the 25th and 26th of the year, compared to 35 this time last year.
Motives into both of the slayings are still being determined, according Edhah. Authorities urged anyone with information to contact the police or submit tips anonymously via Stockton Crime Stoppers. The phone number is (209) 946-0600.
In addition to the two shooting deaths, another fatality was recorded over the weekend.
Kulwinder Singh, 68, was killed in a traffic collision about 4:40 p.m. Sunday near Stanislaus and Jackson streets. The British citizen was unresponsive when officers arrived and later died at a hospital. Police said the death was a case of hit-and-run.
The man and woman in the car that authorities say struck the vehicle in which Singh was a passenger fled on foot, authorities said.
Edhah said that, for now, Singh’s death is not being considered a homicide.
“Provable intent would have to be clear before it would be labeled as such,” he said. “So it remains a traffic fatality.”
But the investigation is ongoing, he added.
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