Woman who survived Stockton serial killer attack said authorities “didn’t care” when she filed a report

A woman who reported being attacked by a suspected serial killer who is believed to be linked to multiple deaths in and around Stockton, California said that police investigators didn’t take her seriously when she reported the attack and acted as if they “just didn’t care” about what happened. The woman was able to survive the attack of the suspect.

Natasha LaTour said that she had spoken to authorities about the night of April 16, 2021, when she came dangerously close to death. She was sleeping in a tent in Stockton when, at three in the morning, she heard the sound of gravel being crushed.

When she emerged from the tent, a shadowy figure was waiting for her outside. According to her, the perpetrator was wearing a black surgical mask and pointing a gun at her with one hand. It is reported that he opened fire on her when a nearby train was passing by.

Because there was nowhere else to go, LaTour rushed the gunman, who, according to her account, fell to one knee but continued to fire. According to her testimony, she was hit nine or 10 times before the suspect walked away from the scene without uttering a single word. She said that a couple who were passing by at the time found her.

LaTour says that when she told Stockton police about the attack, the detectives didn’t seem to care about what she had been through.

“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 continued by saying that she did not “know whether they believed it or not,” but what she did know, and what had become quite clear, was that they did not care.

Since LaTour’s encounter a year ago, six people have been killed; this week, investigators revealed surveillance video of a person of interest they believe may be involved.

In the beginning, the suspect was suspected of shooting and killing five people over the course of the previous three months: Paul Yaw, age 35; Salvador Debudey Jr., age 43; Jonathan Hernandez Rodriguez, age 21; Juan Cruz, age 52; and Lawrence Lopez Sr., age 54. The most recent homicide took place on September 27.

However, the police have now claimed that the suspect is connected to more crimes that took place in April 2021, such as the shooting of LaTour and the deadly shooting of an unidentified Hispanic male who was 40 years old and took place in Oakland on April 10.

But the police just recently said that the suspect is linked to two other shootings in April 2021, one of LaTour and the other of a 40-year-old Hispanic man in Oakland who has not been identified.

According to the authorities, a significant number of the homicides took place in poorly lit regions. A spokesperson for the police department said that the agency 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.