Police: Fresno man, 72, fatally shoots son in family dispute

A 72-year-old man shot and killed his 39-year-old son Sunday afternoon following what Fresno police called a family disturbance.

Sgt. Greg Noll said police arrived shortly after calls came in around 1:20 p.m. of shots fired in northwest Fresno near North Blackstone and West Escalon avenues. Upon their arrival, the 72-year-old man came out to the front gate with his hands up and admitted involvement.

Officers detained the man and saw his son and a gun on the ground in front of the front porch. The victim was pronounced dead shortly after being transported by ambulance to Community Regional Medical Center. Noll said he suffered multiple gunshot wounds.

Noll said police don’t yet know the motive. The family is of Chinese descent, and the suspect doesn’t speak English. Police called for an interpreter.

Irma Silva, 33, had just arrived at her mother’s home across the street when she heard a car peel out. She looked out the window and saw a red SUV pull up the driveway of the house across the street. A couple minutes later, she heard between seven and 10 shots rapidly fired.

She walked outside and saw a few neighbors yelling about the shots. One said, “Oh, my God. Someone is dead.”

After police arrived, Silva said she saw the 72-year-old man come outside with his hands up. The officers handcuffed him and put him in the back of a squad car. Minutes later, an ambulance arrived. She watched the 39-year-old man be carried out on a gurney.

Silva said the 39-year-old and his wife live in the home with his parents and their 2- or 3-year-old son. The wife is visibly pregnant. Silva said the wife walked out of the home in tears, looking scared, and got in the ambulance.

Silva said the family already lived there when her own mother moved in across the street more than 10 years ago.

Natalie Salas, 21, Silva’s niece, said she often sees the grandmother, wife and toddler walking around the neighborhood but rarely sees the men in the family. Despite the language barrier, the women wave to each other. Salas said sometimes the toddler plays with her son and other neighborhood children in her grandmother’s front yard.

“I’ve never heard commotion over there,” she said. “Nothing like this ever happens around here.”

On Monday, the dead man was identified by the Fresno County Coroner as Tom Yue, 39.

Fresno police said Monday that Yue’s father would be booked on murder charges in the fatal shooting. The father was not immediately identified by police, but Fresno County Jail records show that 72-year-old Samuel Xi Yue was booked early Monday morning.

This story was originally published September 27, 2015 at 5:35 PM with the headline "Police: Fresno man, 72, fatally shoots son in family dispute."