Police arrested a man in connection with a shooting at a movie theater which left TikTok star Anthony Barajas on life support and an 18-year-old dead
- 20-year-old Joseph Jimenez has been arrested following a shooting at a California movie theater.
- Police say that there's still no known motive for the shooting, which occurred Monday night.
- TikTok star Anthony Banjaras, 19, is still in intensive care following the shooting.
A man has been arrested as part of an ongoing investigation into a shooting at a movie theater that left TikTok star Anthony Barajas on life support in intensive care.
The shooting occurred in Corona, California, on Monday night, and police said Barajas' friend Rylee Goodrich, 18, was killed in the shooting.
A statement released by the Corona Police Department on Wednesday revealed that Joseph Jimenez, 20, was arrested after detectives served a search warrant and collected witness statements. Jimenez has been booked on charges of murder, attempted murder, and robbery.
Following a search of Jimenez's residence, police found a firearm that "matched the caliber of the weapon used in the murder," according to the statement. The statement also says police found "additional evidence" linking Jimenez to the crime.
According to ABC7, police said that they found Goodrich's wallet at the suspect's home. According to the police statement, there is "no known motive" for the shooting. At a press conference on Wednesday, Corporal Tobias Kouroubacalis said that "robbery is what happened as part of this crime."
According to Fox11 Los Angeles, Corporal Kouroubacalis said the suspect was in possession of a ticket to see the 9:35pm showing of "Forever Purge" on Monday night where the shooting took place. Kouroubacalis had previously said in a public appeal broadcast on ABC7 that only six tickets were sold for that specific showing of the movie at the Crossings Mall theater in Corona.
When asked during the press conference whether the violent themes of "The Purge" had any connection to the shooting, Kouroubacalis said the police "have not learned anything of that type that's come into play for this particular scenario." He added that the suspect has no violent history or previous convictions he's aware of.
In the statement, Corona PD said the investigation and arrest occurred in partnership with the Riverside County Gang Impact Team (GIT) among others, although there are no "gang-related ties" to the crime - the GIT "was utilized as an investigative resource to address the violent and firearm-related crime."
"We have determined that he acted alone in this murder," Kouroubacalis said during the press conference. "We do not have a motive for this heinous, unprovoked crime. And there's no information the suspect and victims had any prior contact before these crimes took place."
Fox11 also reported that Corona PD officials do not believe Barajas' social media fame played a role in the attack. Barajas, who the police statement said remains in intensive care, has nearly 1 million TikTok followers and over 40,000 Instagram followers. In his most recent TikTok, he said he was on a family vacation.
Rylee Goodrich, who was seeing the movie with Barajas, was killed during the shooting. She was reportedly home for the summer after being given a scholarship to Grand Canyon University for its STEM program.
Speaking to Fox 11, her father, Dave Goodrich, said, "This girl was on a first date with this sweet boy, he just came back from Hawaii, and gave us souveniers. He didn't know us and he passed out souvenirs at our house. She was so happy."
Goodrich also questioned why the movie theater didn't have metal detectors: "I was at a baseball game the night before, with 40,000 people and metal detectors, and no shooting," he said. "Why not a movie theater?"
Jimenez is being held at Riverside Presley Detention Center on a $2 million bail.
The Corona Police Department did not immediately respond to Insider's request for further updates.