'Stone Cold Serial Killer' Charged in 7-Eleven Spree

Update: Two California men have been charged in connection with what Orange County DA Todd Spitzer calls a "reign of terror" that left three people dead in a string of robberies between July 9 and July 11. Malike Patt, 20, and Jason Payne, 44, who were arrested on July 15 are accused of a crime spree that included robberies of six 7-Eleven locations on July 11, "7/11 Day," KTLA reports. Spitzer described Patt as a "stone cold serial killer" who "executed innocent people." Patt faces charges incuding special circumstances murder, while Payne has been charged with felony robbery but not murder. Our story from July 11 follows:

Two people were killed during a string of armed robberies at southern California 7-Eleven stores on Monday—July 11, the day on which the convenience store chain gives out free Slurpees to mark the "7/11" date. Fox 11 reports armed robberies took place in at least six locations in Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino counties in the early morning hours, and police are searching for the same suspect in three of those: Santa Ana, where a man was found fatally shot in the parking lot after a 3:23am robbery; Brea, where a store clerk was fatally shot during a robbery around 4:18am; and La Habra, where an employee and a customer were shot during a robbery around 4:55am. Both are expected to survive.

The other robberies took place in Ontario around midnight and Upland around 12:40am (no one was shot in those two incidents) and Riverside just before 2am. A customer was shot in the head in the Riverside incident and is in critical condition. Police have released surveillance footage of the man suspected in the Santa Ana, Brea, and La Habra robberies and shootings, and Upland police believe the same man may be their suspect in that robbery as well, ABC 7 reports. Authorities are investigating whether the other two incidents are also linked. It's also not yet clear whether the incidents have to do with the date, but a Riverside police rep tells the AP, "There’s no way it can be a coincidence of it being 7-Eleven, July 11." (More California stories.)