On Monday, a California gunman with a grudge against large pharmacies allegedly drove more than a hundred miles to a Walgreens, where he went on a shooting spree and killed an employee, in what appears to be nation’s latest industry-targeted shooting.
While the suspect, Narciso Fernandez, had disdain for pharmacies, police have not yet officially deemed that to be the motive for Monday’s deadly shooting spree, local station ABC 30 reported Thursday:
“According to police, on March 31, Fernandez drove more than 100 miles from Pixley to Madera to the Walgreens location on Cleveland Avenue just before 10 P.M. and opened fire, killing 29-year-old Erick Velasquez, an employee at the pharmacy.”
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“An exact motive for the shooting remains unknown at this time, but authorities have shared he had a grudge against large-scale pharmacies.”
Police say Fernandez had no connection to Velasquez.
In video released by Madera police, Fernandez points his gun at, and then shoots, the store’s surveillance camera.
Madera Police Chief Giachino Chiaramonte said Fernandez told some of store’s customers that the shooting had nothing to do with them, KMPH reports:
"He did communicate to some of the female victims that were out front and said, 'This isn’t about you,' and stormed off to his car to where officers found him reloading his handgun," Chief Chiaramonte explained.”
Nonetheless, Fernandez did shoot at customers as they were fleeing the store, Chiaramonte said:
“He not only point blank murdered the store employee Erick Velasquez, but the store manager and a female victim after the shooting fled out the front door and he turned and started shooting towards them.”
In court Wednesday, Fernandez pled not guilty to charges of murder with a gun enhancement and attempted murder with a gun enhancement. His bail was set at $3 million and his next hearing is scheduled for Friday, April 4.
Monday’s shooting isn’t the first to apparently target a disliked industry or business. In December, UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed in what authorities say was as a targeted attack by Luigi Mangione, who allegedly spent months methodically planning his attack before stalking and killing Thompson.
Today, a rash of politically-motivated attacks are targeting owners and dealerships of Tesla vehicles, in protest of Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s work with the Trump Administration to eliminate government waste of taxpayer money.
On Tuesday, Fox News reported that there have been more than 50 targeted anti-Tesla attacks, ranging from minor vandalism to arson and drive-by shootings.