TYLER — On Sunday, Tyler police arrested 25-year-old Kristian Perdomo after he allegedly shot a man at the Westwood Shopping Center in Tyler.
The shooting came in the wake of four homicide investigations in the period of nine days.
At first, Tyler police said Sunday's shooting was not being investigated as a connected incident with the four homicides. There were glaring differences between Sunday's shooting and the four homicides on Dec. 7, Dec. 9, Dec. 10 and Dec. 15.
First, investigators found all four victims of the homicides in residential areas, whereas in Sunday's shooting, the victim was shot in a crowded commercial area.
So far, investigators have not said there were witnesses to the four homicides. On Sunday, there were several witnesses, many of whom provided critical information that led to Perdomo's arrest.
Finally, in each of the first four shootings, the victim was pronounced dead at the scene. Bradley Brockman, the victim in Sunday's shooting, was critically injured and rushed the hospital.
However, between Sunday night and Monday afternoon, investigators made a possible connection.
Despite these differences, Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith said in Monday's joint press conference that he has a 'high level of confidence' the man police arrested Sunday evening is their main suspect in the four homicides. Sheriff Smith stopped short of saying the man in custody was definitely the man responsible.
Nevertheless, Perdomo's arrest marked a break in a case that began with no suspect and no leads.
At the press conference, Sheriff Smith and Tyler Police Chief Jimmy Toler told the media Perdomo was not new to the Tyler-area.
"He's lived in this area for quite some time," Sheriff Smith said. "I think he attended one of the public schools in this area."
"This is an individual we dealt with for several years," Chief Toler added. "He's been arrested in the past. We've dealt with other cases with [his] criminal history. his time at TDCJ [Texas Department of Criminal Justice] . We will have an extensive review of all his action over the past few months."
According to Smith County court documents, Perdomo has been charged with eight felonies between 2010 and 2012, five of them resulting in convictions.
Perdomo's latest conviction was for robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon in April of 2012. He pleaded guilty and received four years in prison. He has not been charged with any felony in Smith County since his release from prison.
His other felony convictions were engaging in organized criminal activity in Feb. 2010 and two separate charges of assault causing bodily injury in Mar. 2011 and July 2011.
After the second homicide on December 9, the Smith County Sheriff's Office began working with the Tyler Police Department to investigate the homicides as connected incidents.
Following the third homicide in Tyler, the words 'serial killer' began to appear on social media. However, the case was never investigated as random killings.
Almost from the beginning, the investigation has centered around the drug business in the Tyler-Smith County area. Tyler police said at least some of the victims had connections with the drug industry in the area.
Shortly after the sheriff's office began working with Tyler police, a multi-agency task force was formed, involving law enforcement from the municipal and county level to the state and federal level.
Among the other agencies involved in the investigation are the Texas State Rangers, the FBI, ATF, ICE, US Marshals and the Texas Department of Public Safety, whose crime lab is being used to study forensic evidence. As a result, 15 people have been arrested in addition to Perdomo.
Sheriff Smith says the individuals arrested are mostly low-level drug dealers in the area. Perdomo is the only suspect in custody believed to be involved in the shootings.
"We've caught a lot of people we believe to be involved in narcotics trafficking that we don't believe, at this time, are involved in the homicides," Sheriff Smith said.
However, there is still many lingering questions left unanswered by authorities.
First, neither Chief Toler nor Sheriff Smith would say what connection, if any, the victims had with each other.
Second, it is still unclear what role, if any, Perdomo allegedly had in the shootings. As of now, he faces an aggravated assault charge following Sunday's shooting. Neither Sheriff Smith nor Tyler police discussed Perdomo's cooperation in their investigation or what led them to believe Perdomo was involved.
Chief Toler hinted there could be more charges filed. Furthermore, Sheriff Smith says they are waiting for forensic tests to come back from the DPS crime lab before moving forward with any charges.
Also it is unclear if authorities reached out to Brockman, the victim of Sunday's shooting, to see if he would cooperate. Though police says Brockman's condition remains critical, it is not known if he is expected to survive the shooting.
On Sunday, Tyler police asked for the public's help to find a bandana and gun. On Monday, Sheriff Smith says investigators no longer need assistance. However, he did not detail if the gun and bandana were found or how they related to the case.
While Sheriff Smith and Chief Toler sounded confident they had the right suspect in custody and were not searching for another suspect, Chief Toler also urged the public to be cautious, especially until murder charges are filed in this case.
"Until we get confirmation, link everything definitively, I think the big thing for us is it never hurts to be too safe," Chief Toler said. "Out of an abundance of caution, we will make sure citizens are aware of what's going on until we actually charge these murders."
Though they did say the shootings were likely drug-related, neither Sheriff Smith nor Chief Toler said whether or not the shootings were gang-related activity. They also did not specify if Perdomo had any gang affiliation.
Of course, the most important variable remains whether or not Perdomo is the man who killed four people and critically injured a fifth in nine days.
For investigators, that question may be answered when the results from the DPS crime lab are revealed in the coming days.
