The elderly man famous for terrorizing his quiet California neighborhood with his slingshot was found dead in his home six days after his arrest.
Prince Raymond King, 81, known as the “serial slingshot shooter,” was found dead Wednesday inside his $640,000 bungalow in leafy Asuza, Los Angeles.
Neighbors complained for years about their cars, windows and property being smashed by tiny metal ball bearings. Police arrested King last week after raiding his home and discovering a slingshot.
“Officers received dispatch regarding a death investigation,” the Asuza Police Department told DailyMail.com on Friday. “Upon arriving at the 500 block of Soldano Avenue they located King deceased and there were no signs of trauma or crime.”
It is not known whether King died of natural causes or suicide. Coroners are investigating the cause of death, the department said.
Officers found Prince Raymond King, 81, known as the ‘serial slingshot shooter’, dead inside his $640,000 bungalow in leafy Asuza on Wednesday.
When police raided the 81-year-old’s home last Thursday, they found King with a slingshot and several metal ball bearings.
“We don’t know of any motive other than malicious mischief,” Lt. Jake Bushey of Asuza police said at the time.
“It’s been going on for many years because we just didn’t identify who the suspect was.”
Police began investigating after the first report in 2015, after some victims found pellet-sized holes in their properties and others had entire windows smashed.
King, famous for terrorizing his quiet Los Angeles neighborhood with his slingshot, was found dead in his home (pictured) in Asuza, police said.
Residents harassed for a decade by a slingshot-wielding thug in the leafy Los Angeles suburb of Azusa were shocked to see police raid their elderly neighbor’s home.
Neighbors who had given up hope for an end to the torment were delighted to see the police department’s Targeted Enforcement Unit attack the old man’s home.
“I’ve actually seen him shoot the slingshot before,” one told NBC News.
“He never shot at us or anything except a lot of neighbors. I couldn’t believe a SWAT team and stuff arrested him yesterday, it was crazy.”
“A lot of times I would go out and find like little bullets on the ground next to my front door,” said another, “so I’m really glad they caught the person.”
Azusa police did not reveal how many ball bearings had been recovered, but did He said most of the shots were fired from King’s garage and from another location in the neighborhood.
Dozens of potentially lethal ball bearings were recovered in the raid on his home.
Police said the attacks primarily originated in the garage area of King’s home.
“The DEU conducted a lengthy investigation and discovered that for nine or ten years, dozens of citizens were being victims of a serial shooter,” they wrote.
‘The unknown suspect broke windows, windshields and almost jammed people with ball bearings.
‘Today, DEU investigators served a search warrant in the neighborhood where the incidents occurred.
‘In the end, the suspicious Prince King of Azusa was arrested. During the search, ball bearings and a slingshot were recovered from his residence.
“They broke the back window of my husband’s car, probably the same guy,” Lupe Lopez wrote in response to the police Facebook post. ‘His dirty hobby cost us $700!’
Residents told NBC they had suspected for years who was threatening their neighborhood.
King was transferred from the Los Angeles Central Jail to Citrus Municipal Court on Tuesday, where he was charged with felony and misdemeanor vandalism.
He was released on his own recognizance, but was prohibited from coming within 200 meters of his own home, except to pick up medication, and was prohibited from possessing weapons, including slingshots.
King was due back in court on June 17.
