AZUSA, Calif. — Neighbors of the 81-year-old man accused of being a “serial slingshot shooter” who terrorized his neighborhood for a decade by allegedly firing ball bearings through windows and windshields expressed shock at his arrest, a day before his sudden death on Wednesday.
Prince King, who lived in Azusa, California, died of heart disease at a private residence, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner said on its website Thursday.
King’s neighbors in Azusa, a small city some 26 miles east of Los Angeles at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains, were surprised that the old man they knew as “Wick” had been arrested.
“He’s always nice,” Veronica Jonasson, who lived next door to King, said in an interview with NBC News.
Jonasson said she works from home and King would frequently declare “break time!” and come over to chat. She said he would bring treats for her dog and they never had any problems.
“I’m honestly surprised,” Jonasson said. “I never thought he’d be terrorizing the neighborhood like that.”
Jonasson said she and her sister-in-law called King “Gran Torino” because, like the character played by Clint Eastwood in the the 2008 movie, he had white hair, became a widower many years ago, and lived alone.
King was arrested on May 23, capping a long-running quality-of-life investigation by the Azusa police into a spate of vandalism on North Enid Avenue. Nobody was hurt, but police were stymied for years.
“It’s been ongoing for many years because we just didn’t identify who the suspect was,” Azusa police Lt. Jake Bushey said after King was arrested, according to The Orange County Register.
A search of King’s two-bedroom home led to the discovery of a slingshot and ball bearings, which resulted in King’s arrest.
King was charged with seven cases of vandalism, five of them felony vandalism, and two misdemeanors, according to court records. He was released, records show, from the Los Angeles County Jail without bail Tuesday and given a June 17 return court date.
Bushey said King did not pick his targets at random. But they still don’t know why he allegedly targeted his neighbors.
“We’re not aware of any kind of motive other than just malicious mischief,” Bushey said.
In 2017, court records show that King was taken to court by a woman to settle a property dispute following the death of King’s father. The woman and King were named as joint tenants, and an agreement was reached where King paid the woman for her interest, records show. Neither the woman nor her lawyer returned calls to NBC News for comment.
Jonasson said she did not recall ever seeing King with a slingshot, but she did see him once with a BB gun on his porch.
“I asked him one time, ‘What are you shooting at?’ He told me it was coyotes,” she said.
It’s not a far-fetched explanation. Coyotes are not uncommon in Azusa, population about 50,000, which calls itself “The Canyon City” because of its location at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains.
But after King’s arrest, his neighbors have been poring over the Azusa Police Department’s Instagram and Facebook posts and wondering if he was responsible to damaging their windshields and windows.
“Most of us did not believe it was him — even as they were arresting him,” said Chris, a neighbor who declined to give his last name.
“Even now it’s still settling in,” he said. “We’re still like, ‘No, maybe it was something else.’ Most of us are neighborly.”
Still, Chris said he’s had windows shot out and sometimes heard what sounded like things being struck after he got home from work. He recalled seeing a camera on King’s garage that appeared to be pointing directly at his home.
Other neighbors said they frequently found BB’s on the ground and in their driveways.
“Many times I came outside, and I would find little BBs on the ground by my front door, so I’m very glad the person was caught,” resident Monica Palomino told NBC Los Angeles after the arrest was announced.
Attempts to reach King’s family members who could speak on his behalf were not successful.
King had been ordered by the court to stay 200 yards away from several locations in Azusa, including the 900 block of North Enid Avenue where he lived, according to court records.
King had been charged with breaking windows at six houses, as well as a car windshield and garage window, according to a criminal complaint.
He pleaded not guilty and denied all allegations at a court appearance Tuesday, records show. His public defender did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Blue tape that bore the name of the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office sealed the doors of his home Wednesday.
Before he died, someone had placed a sign in his yard that said, “Stay Away Wick!”
Chris said he can’t fathom why King would target his neighbors.
“That’s the thing,” he said. “There wasn’t a clear distinct moment or vibe like he had it in for us.”
Phil Helsel reported from Azusa, California and Corky Siemaszko from New York City.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
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