A 42-year-old bounty hunter was fatally shot at a Moreno Valley motel and his alleged attacker was at large Wednesday, with authorities warning he should be considered armed and dangerous.
Chad James Green of Riverside, 41, is suspected of gunning down James Black of Lake Elsinore at about 7 p.m. Tuesday at a lodge in the 24000 block of Sunnymead Boulevard, just south of the Moreno Valley (60) Freeway, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
Sgt. Rick Espinoza said deputies were summoned to the location to investigate a firearm assault and found Black critically wounded from a gunshot to the upper body. The victim was taken to nearby Riverside University Medical Center, where he died a short time later.
A possible motive was not disclosed.
Within hours, detectives identified Green as the alleged perpetrator, and a warrant was issued for his arrest, Espinoza said.
The suspect’s whereabouts are unknown.
“Green should be considered as armed and dangerous and should not be approached,” the sergeant said.
Green escaped through a third-story window and is the subject of a multi-state manhunt by the U.S. Marshal’s Regional Fugitive Task Force, according to U.S. Fugitive Recovery Service International, where James worked as a supervisor after serving in the U.S. Marine Corps in Iraq and working as a private contractor in Afghanistan.
A $10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to Green’s arrest, according to Dan Escamilla, spokesman for US Fugitive Recovery Service International, who added that Green has a lengthy criminal record of felonies dating back over a decade.
Anyone with information was asked to contact RCSD Investigator Joshua Manjarrez at 760-393-3530, or the U.S. Fugitive Service Tip Line at 213-926-7579.