In wake of deadly shooting at Campus Pointe, patrons return and remain at ease
Less than 24 hours after a man was shot and killed at Campus Pointe center near Fresno State, it was business as usual Tuesday as patrons walked and shopped in the proximity of what had been a crime scene.
Frank Sierras, 22, was fatally shot in a parking lot of the Campus Pointe retail area just after midnight Tuesday.
Some shoppers who visited the popular retail area did not know about the shooting, and did not feel discouraged or concerned about shopping there.
“I have never heard of anything like that happening in this area,” said 26-year-old Felicia Fisher, who comes to Campus Pointe every so often for dinner and a movie. “But I do still feel safe coming out here, I never felt like I wasn’t out here.”
Micheal Halliday, another fellow patron, said that he also doesn’t feel concern after this recent shooting.
Halliday said he and his girlfriend come to lunch at Campus Pointe quite regularly and never felt unsafe in the area.
“I don’t think my idea about this place being safe has changed after this one incident,” Halliday said. “Normally, in this area it’s very family oriented so I never have concerns about our safety here.”
Campus Pointe is not the only shopping center in the area to experience recent violence. Fashion Fair Mall was the site of two separate shootings earlier this year.
In April, shots were fired while two groups of men fought outside in the near the Shoe Palace, Lush, Sephora and Morphe stores.
Another shooting took place in inside the mall in January after a man was confronted by a group of men.
Jose Banuelos was leaving the Maya Movie Theater at Campus Pointe with his wife when he heard about the Tuesday morning shooting.
“Sadly, this thing can happen all over town,” Banuelos said. “There’s access to fire arms everywhere and you just have to be aware where you are and who is around you but even then you can still be a victim.
“I don’t feel unsafe here because I don’t think it happens here frequently enough.”
Police said the Tuesday morning shooting was the city’s 38th homicide of the year. At this time last year, there were 18 homicides.
This story was originally published July 6, 2021 at 8:51 PM.