Elk Grove police have released a photo of a man they suspect is responsible for a in the parking lot on Elk Grove Florin Road Sunday night.
Police are searching for 25-year-old Ryan Alan Hays of Sacramento, who they believe is still driving a black 1992 Ford Explorer belonging to murder victim Joseph Oropesa. Oropesa, 19, was shot in the head around 9:30 p.m. Sunday and died later that night at a local hospital.
Police say witness interviews and tips led them to identify Hays as the shooter.
Sacramento County court records show Hays pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon in 2007 and received four years' probation.
Oropesa, the father of an infant, worked at a manufacturing plant and had attended , according to the Sacramento Bee. Family members told the Bee they were stunned by the killing and at a loss as to why Oropesa was targeted.
Elk Grove police spokesperson Chris Trim said detectives were still working on a motive for the crime.
Police responded to a report of gunshots in the record store parking lot Sunday night and found Oropesa lying on the ground, wounded. Witnesses told police Hays drove away in Oropesa's Explorer, a two-door with the California license plate 3BHF649. Trim said as far as police knew, nothing else had been stolen from the victim.
Police are asking anyone with information about Hays's whereabouts to call the Elk Grove Police Department Detective Bureau at (916) 478-8060 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP (4357).
