Police standoff in downtown Fresno ends peacefully when suspect surrenders

A police standoff in downtown Fresno ended peacefully Tuesday afternoon when officers convinced a gang member to surrender after hours of negotiations.

Just before 11 a.m. police received a 911 call that 20-year-old Jose Marquez of Fresno was allegedly armed with a gun, in a unit inside a fourplex at East Mackenzie and North Glenn avenues, Lt. Joe Alvarez said.

Marquez was wanted on an active warrant in connection to a possible shooting on North Effie Street last year. Police served a search warrant at the fourplex a few weeks ago, but Marquez wasn’t there.

When police arrived on Tuesday, Marquez refused to cooperate. The fourplex was evacuated and a SWAT team was called. Police were able to get Marquez’s parents on a loudspeaker to help negotiate with him, Alvarez said.

North Glenn Avenue was blocked at East McKenzie Avenue during the situation.

Marquez surrendered about 2 p.m. right before police sent in the SWAT team. The weapon the caller claimed Marquez possessed was not found.

Alvarez called the situation “a perfect call.”

“Our whole point is we want to make sure that everyone has every opportunity to safely surrender and we want to make sure we do everything as safe as we can for this community,” he said.

Marquez has previously been convicted of drug offenses, court records show, and most recently was arrested in November for alleged possession of a controlled substance, Fresno police arrest records show.

This story was originally published January 2, 2018 at 12:04 PM with the headline "Police standoff in downtown Fresno ends peacefully when suspect surrenders."