A man released from Fresno County Jail 10 days ago for overcrowding is the subject of a manhunt for what police say was an unprovoked fatal shooting in southeast Fresno early Tuesday.
(Update: Shooting suspect Tufono captured in central Fresno)
Police say Tino Tufono, 30, of Fresno is armed and dangerous and that he reportedly has said he will kill the first officer he encounters.
That comment came from a third-party source, Lt. Mark Salazar said, but police are taking the threat seriously.
Salazar said police are frustrated by Tufono's early release from jail.
A jail spokesman said Tufono was released Nov. 28 and was scheduled to appear in Fresno County Superior Court on Monday to face charges of auto theft. Police said Tuesday they do not know if Tufono kept his court date.
But police believe Tufono is responsible for the shooting death of a man in his 20s shortly before 2 a.m. Tuesday at a converted garage apartment on the 1200 block of East Clinton Avenue.
Salazar said Tuesday that Tufono and other people were at the apartment where "drugs were involved." Tufono allegedly shot the victim following a disturbance. Another person was pistol whipped, Salazar said.
In October, Fresno police ranked Tufono as the city's second-most prolific auto thief. Police arrested him in January 2009 for drug possession.
The murder is the 33rd this year, police said. There were 41 homicides in Fresno at this time last year.
The reporter can be reached at plloyd@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6756.
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