Man who waved a gun at a Fresno park is shot and killed by officers, police chief says

A man that Fresno police say was armed with a handgun was shot and killed by officers on Saturday night at Vinland Park.

It happened around 8:44 p.m. near the intersection of Woodward and Gettysburg avenues in east-central Fresno.

Fresno Police Chief Paco Balderrama said a man in his 30s aggressively walked toward officers with a gun in his hand, prompting police to shoot him multiple times.

Balderrama said the officers had given the man several commands to drop the gun prior to him walking toward them.

“They also saw that he was armed,” Balderrama said. “They gave him several commands to try to get him to stop walking away (and) drop the gun — over and over and over.

“At some point, the suspect turned around and began to walk toward the officers in an aggressive manner. He did not put the gun down. And he came toward the officers armed.”

Balderrama said two of the four officers fired their guns at the man, which caused him to fall to the ground.

It was not immediately known how many shots were fired, but Balderrama did say it was “multiple” shots.

Prior to the shooting, police received a call around 8:34 p.m. of a man waving a gun over his head and near the Vinland Park bathrooms.

Fresno Police responded with four officers. Upon arrival, the officers did not see the man at the bathrooms but eventually located him walking away and heading northbound.

Balderrama said police noticed the man did in fact have a firearm on him, and officers yelled commands from a distance for him to drop the gun.

After the man was shot, officers tried to perform life-saving measures, Balderrama said. But the man died at the park.

Balderrama said this is the sixth officer-involved shooting in Fresno this year — all of which involved a weapon by the person who was shot.

In comparison, there were three officer-involved shootings in Fresno throughout all of 2021.

Balderrama said the shooting would be investigated by the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office, Office of Civil Liability, Office of Independent Review and the police homicide unit.

Balderrama added that several people were at the park, which was lit at the time, and witnesses saw the incident.

Investigators also will review footage from the body cameras worn by the officers.

“I reviewed an angle on the body-worn camera,” Balderrama said. “A lot of the information is there.”

This story was originally published June 18, 2022 at 11:15 PM.