Gunshots outside teen soccer game in Fresno send players running for safety
A shooting involving two cars sent teen soccer players and others scrambling for cover Saturday in central Fresno.
Shortly after 11:30 a.m., a 17-and-under soccer travel league was almost done with the first half of its game on the west side of Hamilton Elementary School at Palm and Clinton avenues.
Six or seven gunshots rang out from the cars – a white car and a dark vehicle – driving down Clinton Avenue, according to police.
Soccer players, coaches and spectators ran to the outdoor handball courts near the school buildings seeking safety.
“We just took off and hid behind the concrete walls,” spectator Carlos Iniguez said, referencing the thick, three-sided walls of the courts.
The game was canceled and a portion of Clinton Avenue in the Fresno High neighborhood blocked off during the police investigation.
No one was reported injured, either at the game or in the cars, though a pole in front of a house on Clinton Avenue was struck by gunfire, according to Fresno Police Lt. Charlie Chamalbide.
“The supposed victims never stopped, never called us,” he said. “They were following each other, one of them opened fire on the other one and both cars took off.”
The cars drove off via nearby residential streets, according to reports on the police radio channel.
Shortly after, another report of about 13 gunshots came in from Fresno Street and Clinton Avenue, about a mile and a half away.
By the time police got there, the cars were gone. It’s not clear if the two incidents are related, Chamalbide said.
This story was originally published October 9, 2021 at 2:25 PM.
