LOS ANGELES _ A 33-year-old man identified by law enforcement sources as Zachary Castaneda is being held on $1 million bail in connection with a deadly rampage across two Orange County cities that left four people dead and two others wounded.
Wednesday's spate of violence is one of the worst Orange County has experienced in recent years.
"I've been a police officer for 30 years, and this is the first time I've ever seen a suspect kill four people and stab others," Garden Grove Police Lt. Carl Whitney said. "It's pure evil."
Authorities said the attacks, which unfolded over a roughly 2 {-hour period, appeared to have begun as robberies but added that "pure hate" might also be a potential motive. At this point in their investigation, authorities said, the attacks don't appear to be racially motivated.
The rampage started with a residential burglary in Garden Grove shortly after 4 p.m. Wednesday and quickly evolved into a series of apparently random stabbings that terrorized Garden Grove and Santa Ana before Castaneda was taken into custody outside a 7-Eleven store in Santa Ana.
Four men were killed and a 44-year-old man and 54-year-old woman were wounded in the attacks. Authorities have not released their names, but family members identified one of the individuals killed as 62-year-old Helmuth Hauprich.
Detectives do not believe the suspect knew any of the people he attacked. However, he lived at the Casa De Portola apartment complex on Jentges Avenue in Garden Grove where his alleged crimes began and later turned deadly, Whitney said.
The investigation began shortly after 4 p.m., when Hauprich and his roommate arrived home to Casa De Portola to find their apartment had been ransacked and called police. A passport, a Social Security card, a work authorization card (known as a green card), a sword collection and a large dining room table had been stolen, according to Hauprich's son, Erwin Hauprich.
As officers were responding to that call, an armed robbery was reported at a nearby bakery in the 13000 block of Chapman Avenue. The robber fled in a silver Mercedes, police said.
According to police, the suspect returned to the two men's apartment complex about 5 p.m. and stabbed both of them. When officers arrived, they found one man on the balcony and another man lying inside. Both had been stabbed several times. One died at the scene and the other was taken to a trauma center, where he later died, Whitney said.
Erwin Hauprich said he spoke to his father for the last time shortly after the roommates discovered their home had been burglarized. He suspects the man waited for police to leave and then decided to kill the two men. The son said his father, who had lived in the apartment for more than 20 years, was well-liked and was "always making jokes."
Forty minutes later, police believe the suspect walked into a check-cashing business, Cash & More, in the 12800 block of Chapman Avenue, threatened a customer and stole cash. Witnesses managed to take down the suspect's license plate number.
The man then tried to rob the Best One Insurance Agency in the 12800 block of Harbor Boulevard in Garden Grove about 6:06 p.m. Inside, he attacked a 54-year-old employee, confronting her with what was described as a machete-style knife, Whitney said.
"This female employee was very brave; this guy was armed with knives," Whitney said. "She fought as best as she could against this armed suspect and sustained multiple stab wounds."
The woman was taken to a hospital; she is expected to survive.
Next, about 6:09 p.m., the man pulled up at a Chevron gas station in the 13300 block of Harbor Boulevard in Garden Grove and attacked a man pumping gas, stabbing him in the back as well as nearly cutting off the man's nose, police said. The victim was taken to a hospital and was expected to survive.
Chevron employee Taylor Lorenzen told NBC the suspect came inside the store "kind of angry" and threw a $50 bill on the counter. The man stabbed while pumping gas was "bleeding everywhere," Lorenzen told the station.
Whitney said passersby rushed to the man's aid and tried to help him. When authorities arrived, they provided information that helped police link the incident to the suspect in the other stabbings, he said.
"They were willing to come forward and help the Police Department, give us information that was crucial in getting this guy identified and help this guy who was stabbed and sustained serious injuries," Whitney said. "The public really stepped up to help this guy."
After leaving the gas station, the suspect drove south on Harbor Boulevard, stopping at a Subway sandwich shop in the 3800 block of West First Street in Santa Ana about 6:16 p.m. There, he fatally stabbed a third man, authorities said.
He went across the street about 10 minutes later and attacked a security guard at a 7-Eleven, stabbing and killing him. The man cut the security guard's gun off of his duty belt and walked outside, Whitney said.
Undercover detectives from Garden Grove were combing through the area trying to find the suspect when they spotted the silver Mercedes parked in front of the 7-Eleven. They confronted the man outside the store and took him into custody at gunpoint, Whitney said.
Investigators from Garden Grove and Santa Ana police departments spent hours overnight working multiple crime scenes that spanned the two cities.
"This is one of those things you see one time in a career," Whitney said. "We want to make sure we have a solid case and we can put this guy in prison for the rest of his life."
