A 36-year-old man suspected of fatally shooting a Riverside resident in a canal was being held Friday in lieu of $1 million bail.
Shaun Daniel Tara of Jurupa Valley was arrested Thursday and booked into the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta on suspicion of murder.
Riverside County sheriff’s detectives had been searching for Tara since the Aug. 17 slaying of 32-year-old Jeremy Amerson in Jurupa Valley.
About 2:40 that morning, Tara confronted the victim in an empty flood control channel that crosses underneath Van Buren Boulevard, just west of Bellegrave Avenue, according to sheriff’s Sgt. Ben Ramirez. For unspecified reasons, the suspect pulled a handgun and shot Amerson multiple times, Ramirez alleged.
Witnesses called 911, and patrol deputies reached the victim a few minutes later, initiating CPR, he said. Before paramedics could transport Amerson to a hospital, he succumbed to his wounds, the sergeant said.
Tara was identified as the alleged shooter, and a search was initiated, ultimately leading to the city of Pomona, where he was taken into custody without incident shortly after midnight Thursday near the intersection of Gary Street and Holt Avenue.
A possible motive for the attack was not disclosed, nor was it clear how the two men knew one another, or what they were doing in the waterway.