Fresno police fatally shoot man reportedly armed with handgun and hunting knife, chief says

Two Fresno police officers fatally shot a man Tuesday after he armed himself with a hunting knife and a handgun during a confrontation in southeast Fresno, Chief Jerry Dyer said.

The deadly incident took place about noon next to Mario G. Olmos Elementary School near Kings Canyon and Chestnut avenues.

Dyer said the gunshots were fired “almost simultaneously” with several less-lethal shotgun rounds when the man pulled the handgun from a backpack.

The identity of the man was not released at the scene, where Dyer briefed the news media on the shooting after reviewing police body cameras.

The incident began when police were sent to Garden and Balch avenues to check a report that two people were fighting. When officers arrived, they found only the man in his 20s or early 30s who appeared to be having a mental health crisis, Dyer said. The arriving officer spoke Spanish, as did the man. The officer called for a negotiator and more officers.

Dyer said there were at least four officers at the scene during the 20-minute standoff, including officers trained in mental health crisis issues. The officers tried to calm the man, who was “yelling” or talking very loudly, said Dyer.

At one point, the man took off the backpack and pulled out the 10- or 12-inch hunting knife, prompting officers to retreat, Dyer said. They were about 20 feet away when about 30 seconds later, the man shifted the knife to his left hand and pulled the handgun from the pack.

That’s when one officer fired four or five less-lethal rounds and two officers, “fearing for their safety,” fired their handguns. Dyer said it appeared two or three pistol rounds were fired by each officer.

Officers administered CPR, but the man died at Community Regional Medical Center.

Dyer said the handgun that the man armed himself with remained in the shooting scene and officers had not yet examined it.

The chief said officers gave the man “plenty of room and time,” in an effort to defuse the situation. He added that officers did not use force, but retreated, when the knife was drawn.

He said the officers who fired the handguns are both veterans, each with a minimum of 15 years of duty.

This story was originally published August 14, 2018 at 1:14 PM.