In brief: Suspect arrested in random California killings

BANNING, Calif. – Police on Sunday identified the suspect arrested in the shooting deaths of two people in an apparently random rampage in the Southern California city of Banning.

James Paul Diaz, 34, of Hemet, was arrested and booked for investigation of two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder and other charges stemming from Saturday’s shooting spree, police said in a statement.

Banning police Chief Alex Diaz said victims interviewed by police said they did not know the suspect.

Authorities on Saturday responded to reports of gunfire in a string of incidents in the city near Palm Springs, California that killed two people and injured three including a shooting that killed a driver and injured a passenger, a car-to-car shooting that caused a minor injury and an assault at a gas station.

Authorities also found a man whose car crashed into a facility wall had been shot – an incident Diaz said investigators believe was linked.

Within an hour, police in the nearby city of Beaumont fielded calls about a man knocking on people’s doors looking for his children and breaking the window of a vehicle occupied by a woman and her children, Diaz said.

Officers tracked down a white SUV linked to those incidents and that matched a vehicle seen at the attacks in Banning. Police in Beaumont arrested James Paul Diaz and found a weapon inside the SUV, chief Diaz said.

Vandals attack mission, Serra statue

CARMEL, Calif. – Police in Northern California say vandals defaced a statue of Father Junipero Serra at the Carmel Mission, where the remains of the recently canonized missionary are buried.

Carmel police Sgt. Luke Powell told the Salinas Californian that vandals struck Saturday night, damaging statues, gravesites and signs and spewing green and white paint on doors.

The Mission said a statue of Serra and other historic statues in the courtyard were toppled. Photos posted on the Mission’s Facebook page show someone wrote “Saint of Genocide” on a stone.

On Wednesday, Pope Francis elevated Serra to sainthood. The 18th-century Spanish friar brought the Catholic faith to California.

Many Native Americans say the missions cut their ancestors off from their traditional languages and cultures and enslaved those who converted to Christianity.