Months Later, a Redlands Killer Remains At-Large

It’s been seven months since a gunman stepped onto a Redlands playground and opened fire on five teenaged boys, killing two, wounding two and leaving a neighborhood in fear and turmoil.

All these months later, the investigation has stalled, Redlands Police officials said.

On Wednesday, mothers of three of the victims spoke to a crowd of media to ask the public for information that will help in finding the gunman.

“My pleas goes out to the parent or the parents of the suspects,” said Gail Howard, mother to one of the surviving teenagers. “You know what your child has done. You know because you struggle with it day and night. We’re not blind to what our kids do. And I plead with you and I beg you, in the name of Jesus, please come forward.”

On Jan. 5, police said a gunman walked onto a playground tucked between the buildings of an apartment complex on Oxford Drive, north of Colton Avenue, and opened fire.

His bullets struck Howard’s son in the face and another boy in the leg. Quinn McCaleb, 17, and Andrew Jackson, 16, were killed. A fifth teen escaped uninjured, police officials said.

The department has been exploring all leads the investigators have been able to drum up. Police have interviewed several witnessess.

“We have exhausted our leads in this case and we are asking for the public’s help in being able to generate new information that might help us to solve this crime,” Redlands Police Chief Mark Garcia said.

The police released a new sketch of the gunman. The artist rendering features a much younger looking suspect wearing a hoodie rather than a cap. Police describe the man as Hispanic between 17 and 20 years old, 5-foot-5, 140 to 150 pounds with a thin build. He wore a dark hooded sweatshirt pulled over his head and dark pants.

The shooter escaped in a dark colored mid- to late-1990s model Honda Accord or Honda Civic, officials said.

“We know there are people in this community, people in this neighborhood, who know what happened, who saw what happened or who have heard what happened,” Garcia said.

“No piece of information is too small,” Garcia said. “We need to have any and every piece of information that might be vital to helping us solve this crime.”

A $10,000 reward has been offered to anyone who provides information that leads to the gunman’s arrest and conviction. Anyone with information to call Sgt. Mark Hardy at (909) 798-7545 or Redlands Police dispatch at (909) 798-7681. Anonymous tips can be submitted by text at 274637 using the keyword “REDTIP.”