LOS ANGELES — An ex-convict has been charged with killing a father who was camping with his daughters in a Southern California park and trying to kill the girls and eight others in a series of shootings over two years, prosecutors said Monday.
Anthony Rauda, 42, was charged in Los Angeles County Superior Court with one count of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and five counts of burglary in a rash of break-ins and shootings targeting campers and drivers that stirred fear near a popular state park outside Los Angeles.
Rauda is accused of shooting Tristan Beaudette in the head while the 35-year-old father camped in a tent with his young daughters on June 18 in Malibu Creek State Park. The girls, ages 2 and 4, were not injured but are considered victims of attempted murder and listed in a criminal complaint as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2.
The park 30 miles (48 kilometres) west of downtown LA was closed temporarily after the slaying. Much of the park, which has served as a filming location for movies and TV shows such as M.A.S.H., was charred in recent wildfires.
Fear spread when authorities acknowledged after the killing that several shootings had occurred in the area, but they were not previously thought to be related. Other victims then came forward to report they had been shot at in the park or driving past it.
Rauda was arrested in October in a ravine near the park dressed in black and carrying a rifle in his backpack.