Accused Fresno jail-lobby shooter admits to 'white lies' in self-defense account

A Fresno man admitted Friday in his attempted-murder trial that he never asked for help from correctional officers before he opened fire inside the Fresno County Jail lobby in September 2016.

Thong Vang testified Friday in Fresno Superior Court that he critically wounded two unarmed correctional officers after a lieutenant fired at him first. He also said he was high on methamphetamine and paranoid when he went to the jail to look for help because he believed someone was after him.

But on cross-examination, prosecutor William Lacy picked apart Vang's account of the Sept. 3, 2016 shooting in the jail lobby, which was filled with people waiting to visit inmates. In response, Vang described his inconsistencies as "little white lies."

Peppered by Lacy to tell the truth, Vang admitted that he never asked any correctional officers inside the lobby for help. He also admitted that he went to the lobby's front desk and asked to visit an inmate.

After the shooting, Vang gave a three-hour videotaped interview with sheriff's Detective Hector Palma. Vang admitted on the witness stand on Friday that he never told Palma that he saw an officer with a gun pointed at him before Vang opened fire.

He admitted to Palma that he smoked methamphetamine hours before the shooting. But he also told the detective that he "wasn't that high" when he shot and wounded Juanita Davila and Toamalama Scanlan.

In addition, nearly two months after the shooting, Vang wrote a six-page letter to the sheriff's Internal Affairs unit. The letter gives his account of the shooting, Lacy told the jury. But Vang said Friday that his letter never mentioned an officer pointing a gun at him in the lobby.

Vang told the jury that the reason why he never mentioned the gun to detectives or in his letter was because at the time of the shooting, he was under the influence of drugs, and he didn't know many facts until after he read transcripts from court hearings.

Vang, 38, is charged with the attempted murder of Scanlan and Davila. He also faces two counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm and possession of a firearm by a felon; Vong had a prior rape conviction. If convicted of the shootings, Vang faces at minimum 50 years to life in prison.

Davila, who was shot in the neck, has testified that she still needs another surgery to mend her broken jaw. Scanlan's wife, Tespatasi, has testified that her husband can no longer walk, talk or feed himself.

Testimony is expected to wrap up Monday, with Dr. Alex Yufik, a forensic psychologist, testifying about how smoking methamphetamine leads to paranoia and psychosis, defense attorney Richard Esquivel said. Closing arguments will be Tuesday.

Vang has blamed Lt. Michael Porter for starting the gunfight in the lobby.

"In my mind, I was defending myself," he told the jury.

Vang said he wasn't suicidal when the went to the jail lobby with a gun, a 380 semiautomatic handgun, which he said he purchased off the streets a few days before the shooting.

Instead, he said, "I was afraid of being killed."

He explained that he had smoked methamphetamine with his girlfriend and later got into an argument with her. After taking his girlfriend to her friend's home, he testified that he started to feel paranoid that his girlfriend had sent someone to assault him.

Video testimony and his own account reveal Vang first went to the Fresno Police Department, but headquarters was closed because it was Saturday.

A video then shows him walking past a Fresno police patrol car. When Lacy asked Vang why he didn't ask the officer for help, Vang said he was still thinking about what he wanted to do — ask for help or just go home.

On Thursday, Andrea Preciado testified that she had gone to the jail with her husband to visit a relative. Outside the jail, she said, she encountered a man, who was later identified as Vang. She said the man warned her: "Don't go in there."

Preciado told the jury that she thought "it was just another crazy person" who hangs out in front of the jail. But later, that same man started shooting inside the lobby.

But Vang testified Friday he never warned Preciado about going into the lobby.

Instead, he said, "I was seeking help. I was fighting the paranoia."

After the shooting, he said he cooperated with detectives. But he also was scared, he said, because correctional officers in jail told him: "We're going to set you up to be killed. We're going to set you up to be raped and murdered."

"Did you really hear that?" his lawyer asked him.

"Yes."

This story was originally published March 23, 2018 at 3:44 PM with the headline "Accused Fresno jail-lobby shooter admits to 'white lies' in self-defense account."