Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department

Investigators Search for Clues in String of Shootings in Wilderness Near Malibu Creek State Park

Investigators returned to a wilderness area near Malibu Creek State Park Wednesday to search for new clues in the shooting death of a camper and in a series of other seemingly random shootings.

"They are doing due diligence and searching for additional evidence," said one LA County Sheriff's Department official familiar with the case.

The area being examined is close to where suspected burglar Anthony Rauda was arrested last week. Rauda was armed with a rifle when he was arrested.

Firearms analysts at the Sheriff's crime lab conducted comparisons last week between crime scene bullets, expended cartridge casings, and the seized gun. A report was being finalized this week, the officials said.

Rauda, 42, was caught walking through the hills near Malibu Creek State Park Oct. 10 by a team of investigators who'd been tracking him intensively for more than a week.

He's being held with no bail on suspicion of a probation violation while detectives assemble the evidence they said they believe will link Rauda to the killing of camper Tristan Beaudette, and a series of early-morning burglaries at buildings not far from Malibu Creek State Park.

Beaudette was shot to death in June while he slept next to his 2- and 4-year-old daughters inside a closed tent.

Rauda's name surfaced soon after the Beaudette shooting as a, 'person of interest' because he'd had repeated contacts with deputies who patrolled the Calabasas and Malibu hills, the officials told NBC News in July. Rauda could not be found.

The possible connection between the burglaries and the shootings was emboldened Sept. 30 when security cameras recorded an image of a masked man wearing a headlamp prying open a window at an office near the intersection of Las Virgenes Road and Mulholland Highway.

NBC4 obtained still images from the video that showed the man dressed in fatigues or 'tactical-style' clothing and carrying a rifle slung over his left shoulder.

Updates to come on the NBC4 News.

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