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Crime & Safety

UPDATED: Downey Shooting Rampage Suspect in Apparent Dispute Over Car Sale

Police now say the victims in the shooting were not all related, according to reports.

* Updated with Harris being detained on a no-bail hold.

A 30-year-old man suspected of fatally shooting three people and wounding two others in Downey in an apparent dispute over a car for sale was behind bars today.

Initially, Jade Douglas Harris was held at the Men's Central Jail in Los Angeles in lieu of $1 million bail. He's now being detained on a no-bail hold, according to jail records.

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Harris was one of four people detained Thursday. The other three were eventually released, but investigators held Harris for questioning overnight and booked on suspicion of murder about 10 a.m. Friday, Downey police Lt. Dean Milligan said.

The shootings began around 11:10 a.m. Wednesday.

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The first shots were fired at the family-owned United States Fire Protection in the 8700 block of Cleta Street, and more shots were fired a short time later at a home owned by the same family about two blocks away.

Two people died at the business -- one male and one female -- while another female victim was killed at the home, police said. The deceased victims were identified by Milligan on Thursday as Josimar Rojas, 26, and Susana Perez- Ruelas, 34, both of Downey, and Irene Cardenas, 35, of Cudahy.

Two other people were wounded and were said to be critical but stable condition. One of the wounded was a 13-year-old boy, who was treated and returned to his family, Milligan said.

Police initially said the shooting targeted members of a single family, but two of those slain, Rojas and Cardenas, were not related to the other victims, according to the Long Beach Press-Telegram.

Police did not give any potential motive for the slayings, but an attorney for the family strongly denied that they were involved in any wrongdoing. The business is owned by Robert and Antonio Salinas, the attorney said.

"The Salinas family is not involved in any illegal activities," attorney Arshak Bartoumian said. "This has been reported as one possible theory for these killings. This theory was placed in the public by various sources without any facts."

Bartoumian said the family was "hard-working" and "tried to live the American dream by running a prosperous business. Unfortunately they were involved in the senseless killings of three people."

A family spokeswoman said the suspect showed up at the business in response to an ad on Craigslist offering a 2010 Chevrolet Camaro for sale. The suspect had offered to pay $25,000 in cash for the vehicle, but when he showed up at the business, he pulled out a gun and demanded the car. When he learned the car was a few blocks away at the family's home, he opened fire, killing Rojas and Cardenas, and wounding 52-year-old Maria Fuentes, who remains hospitalized in serious condition, Martha Zerehi, told the Los Angeles Times.

The gunman then ordered Perez-Ruelas and her son to take him to the home, Zerehi said. Once there, the man put a gun to the boy's head and threatened to kill him. Perez-Ruelas tried to push the gun away, at which time the suspect fatally shot the woman, then opened fire on the boy, who played dead, Zerehi said.

The suspect drove off in the black Camaro, which was later recovered in Los Angeles, police said.

Harris is due for arraignment in Superior Court in Downey on Monday, according to sheriff's records.

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