Police chase down suspect after volleys of rifle shots in residential neighborhood

Fresno Police officers were at the scene of a burglary call early Sunday morning when there was a burst of gunfire in the vicinity, followed by a man running past them on McKenzie Avenue carrying what appeared to be a rifle.

Officers gave chase on foot and apprehended the suspect without incident and in another fortuitous twist, no one was struck by the gunfire and no homes on the residential street were hit.

There were more than 10 shots fired in separate volleys shortly before 1 a.m. in the area of McKenzie and First Street.

“The officers were able eventually to capture that individual, not very far away, a few houses down and they got him into custody safely and there was no further incident,” Fresno Police Lt. Ignacio Ruiz said.

“We did recover that firearm, and the suspect is in custody with no injuries. There is a vehicle that had been struck and we’re determining whether or not that is involved with this shooting that we’re investigating.”

The vehicle was unoccupied, and parked at the time.

Thomas Lee Stockstill, according to Fresno County jail records, was booked on felony charges for discharging a firearm at an unoccupied vehicle or dwelling, person prohibited from possessing a firearm shall not possess ammunition, possession of a firearm by a felon or narcotic drug user and receiving or concealing stolen property.

Bail on the possession of a firearm by a felon or narcotic drug user charge is $75,000.

“We don’t know the motivation for the shooting,” Ruiz said. “It’s unknown what the suspect was shooting at, but we do know there were actual shots fired because we received several Shot Spotter activation that corroborated that.”

“We’re happy to say no officers were injured, the suspect also was not injured during this incident and the neighbors in this neighborhood are safe considering what was going on,” Ruiz said. “We just have one vehicle that was struck. It’s fortunate that’s all that happened, considering how many shots were fired.”