Brokenhearted Selma community reeling after local police officer is killed

Selma residents, saying they were brokenhearted and stunned, gathered Tuesday night at Veterans Plaza to mourn the loss of a city police officer.

The Selma Police officer, identified Wednesday as Gonzalo Carrasco Jr., 24, was the first to die in the line of duty in the city celebrated as the Raisin Capital of the World.

“It’s very shocking,” said longtime resident Leslie Nelson, who quickly went on Facebook and called for residents to meet at the plaza when she heard the grim news that the officer had died at Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno.

“We will be here to welcome the officer home when he comes back from Fresno,” she added.

Carrasco was on patrol around 11:45 a.m. Tuesday when a homeowner flagged him down after a man “who looked suspicious and was unknown to the area” was spotted in front of a house.

Selma Police Chief Rudy Alcaraz said Carrasco was exiting his vehicle to make contact with the suspect when he was fired upon several times and struck.

‘National news’

Tonya Frost also attended Tuesday’s gathering.

“It just makes me want to cry,” Frost said. “Our poor little town. We are going to make the national news in the worst possible way.”

Added Tonya Dixon on a Facebook post: “This is so heartbreaking.”

The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said a suspect in the police killing was arrested. He was identified Wednesday as Nathaniel Dixon, 23. The sheriff’s office noted that the suspect had several prior felony arrests and was known to law enforcement.

Nelson Schwamb, a resident of the city for 65 years, said the slaying of the officer was “a terrible thing for our community, our police department, and for his family.”

Added his wife, Shannon Schwamb:

“It’s just hard. He was going out to do a job and it’s very tragic when a thing like this happened.”

For Joe Hernandez, who has lived in Selma his entire life, it seemed Tuesday as though the terrible events he has seen unfold in other communities on national news were now happening in his town.

Hernandez said that he has two young grandsons who attend Eric White Elementary School near the shooting. The school went into lockdown during the search for the suspect.

Hernandez, who lives near the school, said he was working in his yard Tuesday when a driver stopped in front of his house and said there might be an active shooter nearby. The driver urged Hernandez to go inside his home.

When he learned more a bit later, Hernandez quickly went to the school and confirmed that his grandsons were safe.

“Police were everywhere,” he added. “I hadn’t seen (anything like it) since 9/11.” He added that he was on the East Coast when the two planes slammed into the Twin Towers.

“It hit me pretty hard,” he added. “It’s just a sign of the times.”

Memorial fund

A memorial fund was established to help the fallen officer’s family.

Contributions can be addressed and sent to:

Fresno Deputy Sheriff’s Association

C/O Selma POA Memorial Fund

1360 Van Ness Ave.,Fresno, CA, 93721

This story was originally published January 31, 2023 at 9:15 PM with the headline "Brokenhearted Selma community reeling after local police officer is killed."