Sister of men killed in Thursday shootout is wounded during candlelight vigil

The sister of two men killed in a northwest Fresno shootout was herself hit by gunfire during a candlelight vigil Friday night near the scene of the shooting, police said.

The 21-year-old woman was one of two people wounded in the latest shooting outside a northwest Fresno apartment complex. Neither victim’s name was released.

Sgt. Doug Goertzen said the woman was shot through the wrist and is in stable condition. A 14-year-old boy was hit twice in the back, twice in the left knee and once in the right hand. His injuries are considered critical but not life-threatening.

Nearly 20 law enforcement vehicles swarmed to the intersection of Barstow and San Pablo avenues, just west of Blackstone Avenue, after Friday’s shooting was reported at 10:37 p.m. San Pablo was largely deserted when officers arrived, Goertzen said, because everyone fled during the shooting.

Lt. Joe Gomez shed more light on the case on Saturday.

He said approximately 20 shots were fired at a group of around 20 people. The woman shot through the wrist told police she saw four black men with short dreadlocks driving south on San Pablo in a burgundy Ford Taurus. The car made a U-turn and came back to the vigil to fire the shots. She said she did not recognize the men.

The 14-year-old was unable to give a statement because of the pain he was in, Gomez said.

A shootout on San Pablo about 11:30 a.m. Thursday left brothers Willie Ford, 19, and Denzel Ford, 18, dead. Their brother, Benzo Ford, 17, was fatally shot less than three months ago, on July 12.

Domenek Greenberry, 19, a Fresno gang member originally from San Bernardino, was arrested on suspicion of murder in Thursday’s shootout. He is the brother of Washington Union High School and University of Houston star football player Deontay Greenberry, who was cut last month by the Seattle Seahawks, Washington Union athletic director Jeff Freitas confirmed.

Their father, Leonard Greenberry, was shot and killed outside the Legion Hall in southwest Fresno on Aug. 24, 2014. Michael Murray Johnson, 50, was convicted of the crime on Aug. 12. Witnesses say Johnson and Greenberry had some sort of fight at a birthday party held at the hall.

Gomez said police believe the entire Ford family is involved with gangs. Investigators believe the shootings are not the result of a feud between rival gangs but rather a dispute within a single gang.

A memorial to the Ford brothers of candles and balloons had sprung up on a strip of grass along San Pablo. The vigil was still in place Saturday afternoon, but several of the candles and other items were broken and scattered around the scene.

Three apartments and a vehicle were struck by gunfire Friday night. No one in the apartments or vehicle was hurt.

Gomez said that a marked patrol vehicle will remain at the site of the vigil all night Saturday to “ensure we don’t have a repeat” shooting.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Fresno police at 559-621-7000 or Crime Stoppers at 559-498-7867.

This story was originally published October 3, 2015 at 12:15 AM with the headline "Sister of men killed in Thursday shootout is wounded during candlelight vigil."