Surveillance Footage Leads Police to a Riverside Shooting Suspect

Staff Writer

Wednesday, August 24th, 2016

RIVERSIDE – An arrest for attempted murder was made after surveillance footage clearly caught the license plate number of the assailant, officials said. The suspect, 19-year-old Hemet resident Jesse Flores, allegedly was the shooter in an August 16, 2016, shooting at 1240 Blaine Street in the City of Riverside.

That night at around 9:00 p.m. police were dispatched to the location in response to a male victim with a possible gunshot wound to his stomach. Through investigation, the University Neighborhood Enhancement Team (UNET) determined that the victim was standing in the parking lot when a 4-door sedan drove up and called the victim to the vehicle. The victim walked over to the passenger side of the vehicle, and Flores shot one time at the victim using a sawed-off shotgun.

The driver fled and it was later determined that the victim was not hit by the shotgun pellet but by the plastic wadding of the shell casing, officials said. He was transported to the hospital, where he was treated and released. The surveillance footage from the parking lot where the shooting occurred captured the license plate, which led to a possible suspect.

The victim was shown a photo lineup and was able to positively identify the suspect. While in the process of obtaining a warrant for the arrest of the suspect, officers spotted him in the same vehicle. He was detained and a shotgun, possibly the one used in the shooting, was recovered from the vehicle. Flores was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center for attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and probation violation.