WILDOMAR: Officials ID Menifee victim & Murrieta suspect after fatal pizza parlor shooting

UPDATE: Tuesday, June 5, 8 p.m., With booking photo

UPDATE: Monday, June 4, 12:30 p.m., With additional details from RSO

(See original story below.)

WILDOMAR — Officials have identified the victim and alleged suspect who witnesses say fired at least six rounds into a victim yesterday afternoon as the man sat defenseless in a car that was parked outside Stadium Pizza in Wildomar.

In a press release written the day after the fatal shooting, Riverside Sheriff Sergeant Ben Ramirez identified 35-year-old, Menifee resident Mark Corona, as the victim killed in the shooting.

“The suspect, Paul Henry Carl Stoeppler, 34 years, of Murrietta, was arrested for murder and booked at the Cois Byrd Detention Center,” wrote Ramirez.

Jail records indicated Stoeppler was booked on suspicion of murder with malice and using a firearm during the commission of a felony. He remains in custody, and is being held without bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned at Murrieta’s Southwest Justice Center, June 6.

Deputies assigned to the Wildomar Police Department were dispatched to the scene of the deadly incident at 3:23 p.m., after several people called 911 to report the shooting.

When deputies arrived, the found Corona deceased inside a dark grey sedan. Corona was suffering from “several gunshot wounds,” according to Ramirez who explained, “The investigation is currently ongoing and no further information will be released at this time.”

Anyone with information regarding this investigation or who witnessed the deadly shooting and has not been interviewed is encouraged to contact Investigator Argandona with the Lake Elsinore Sheriff Station at (951) 245-3300 or Investigator Manjarrez with the Central Homicide Unit at (951) 955-2777. Callers can refer to incident file number WI181540038 and can remain anonymous. Citizens may also submit a tip using the Sheriff’s Homicide Tipline online form.

 

ORIGINAL STORY: One dead, one in custody, after deadly shooting outside pizza parlor

WILDOMAR — One man is reportedly dead and another is in custody after a shooting that happened earlier this afternoon in Stadium Pizza’s parking lot in Wildomar. According to witnesses and friends of the suspect and victim, the two men involved in the fatal incident knew each other.

Deputies assigned to Wildomar Police Department responded to the restaurant at 32278 Clinton Keith Road, between Stadium Lanes Road and Palomar Street, shortly after 3 p.m., after receiving several 911 calls reporting the shooting.

As the investigation was getting underway, deputies cordoned off the parking lot and restaurant with crime scene tape and were seen interviewing people who knew the two men, as well as other potential witnesses.

A dark grey Toyota pickup truck sat outside the pizza parlor with its driver’s side door open and a grey sedan with a shattered rear passenger side window was parked in a parking space about 15 feet away.

A handgun, magazine, and other personal items sat on the parking lot pavement nearby, reportedly placed there by the alleged shooter.

A deceased man, believed to be the victim, sat slumped over inside the sedan – while the other man was seen sitting inside the back of a patrol vehicle.

Investigators from Wildomar PD and Sheriff’s Central Homicide Unit had been summoned to the scene and have assumed the investigation.

Witnesses at the scene who were inside the restaurant when the shooting happened and knew the two men reportedly told deputies and investigators they were waiting for the pair to come into the pizza parlor and join them when numerous shots rang out.

One witness, who declined to give his name, told Redlands Daily Facts the shooter fired four rounds at the victim as the man sat in the driver’s seat of the compact car. The victim reportedly yelled, “No!” just as the first shots were fired.

After shooting the victim, the alleged gunman reportedly began walking away from the sedan before turning around, walking back, and firing two more times.

Officials have not released the identities of the victim or suspect or what may have led up to the shooting.

 

Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, 46, recently moved to Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for several other news organizations, including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook, as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and The Mountain Echo in Shasta County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.