BART Police Increase Reward For Suspect In 2016 Fatal Shooting
OAKLAND (KPIX 5) -- BART police on Wednesday released new information about a 2016 fatal shooting on board a BART train and more than doubled the reward money for information leading to the killer in the hopes of getting a break in the case.
19-year-old Carlos Funez-Romero was shot at close range on a crowded, San Francisco-bound BART car as it pulled into the West Oakland Station at 7:40 p.m. on January 9, 2016.
Police released a series of surveillance photos of a suspect at the time of the crime, but noted Wednesday that the man has never been positively identified while managing to evade authorities over the past three years.
"I can guarantee he's looking over his shoulder every single day," said BART Police Chief Carlos Rojas.
BART police believe the suspect has strong ties to the Antioch area and goes by the first name of "Matty."
He boarded the same Tri Delta Transit bus as the victim on the 3400 block of Delta Fair Boulevard in Antioch shortly before the murder. Suspect and victim then boarded the BART train at the Pittsburg/Bay Point station.
Detectives also believe the suspect's father's name is Vic or Victor, and that he has a Ford Crown Victoria car.
"There's a good possibility that someone knows a man by the name of Vic who has a Crown Victoria," said Rojas.
Police aren't revealing anything about a possible motive in this case, but the suspect and Funez-Romero did exchange words starting on the bus.
The suspect is described a black male over six feet tall with a slim build. At the time of the murder, he had a shaved bald or close-cut hair style and was wearing a green hooded jacket with beige-colored construction-style boots.
"What I want to say to this individual is that we're on this case, we're coming after you, and we're going to solve this," said Rojas.
The reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect has been increased from $10,000 to $25,000.
Rojas said homicides are rare on the BART system and before Funez-Romero was killed, there hadn't been a homicide on the system since February 2013.
However, there were three homicides on the BART system in a five-day period last July, including the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Nia Wilson at the MacArthur station in Oakland on July 22, 2018.
Rojas said anyone with information about the fatal shooting of Funez-Romero should call BART police at (510) 464-7040 or an anonymous tip line at (510) 464-7011.