Man shoots at drivers in Southern California, kills one, is charged with murder

The 39-year-old man arrested for allegedly shooting at passing commuters in Riverside County earlier this week, killing a husband and father of four and wounding another person, has been charged with one count of murder and six counts of attempted murder.

Surveillance footage showed Julio Cesar Rodarte unloading a magazine full of bullets at passing motorists on State Street near the intersection of West 7 at around 6:30 a.m. on June 3, loading another and continuing to shoot.^th Street in San Jacinto.

Victor Leon was fatally shot in the incident as he returned home from his night shift at a warehouse in Moreno Valley.

He leaves behind his wife, with whom he was married for 13 years, and their four children.

A second person injured by gunfire was taken to hospital and is now recovering.

At a court hearing in Riverside County on Thursday, the 39-year-old suspect’s attorney requested a competency hearing, which the judge approved and scheduled for July 13, according to Thalia Hayden, press secretary for the Riverside District Attorney’s Office.

Rodarte, who was convicted of auto theft in Monterey County in September 2004, remains in custody.