Police decry senseless shootings after mom, daughter wounded in Fresno home

Acting Fresno Police Chief Pat Farmer Monday decried senseless gang violence after a mother and her young daughter were hit by gunfire while they were inside their home Sunday night in southeast Fresno.

Farmer called the shooting, and a previous one in which a woman was hit on Jan. 16, “cowardly” and “preventable.”

He recalled previous instances where innocent victims were killed or seriously wounded in Fresno by stray bullets: Janessa Ramirez, hit by a stray round fired by a gang member in January 2015; Baby Rashaad, killed by a bullet carelessly fired by a suspected gang member in June of 2016; and Andrew Mitchell, in a wheelchair since he was hit by a bullet that missed its mark in 2002.

“There’s been many instances where we have either young innocent people being shot and killed or wounded, and these shootings from gang members shooting at each other ... is a cowardly act,” Farmer said. “And it’s preventable.”

In Sunday’s shooting, the woman and her 4-year-old daughter were inside a home at North Eighth Street and East Nevada Avenue when someone whom police believe is a gang member fired 15 shots. The woman was struck in the torso and another bullet grazed the girl’s head. Detectives are searching for a black SUV in connection with the violence.

On Jan. 16, a 12-year-old was struck by gunfire in the 2400 block of East Barton Avenue. Farmer said police believe a gang member targeted a member of a tagging crew by firing seven rounds, hitting the victim. As in the Sunday night violence, Farmer said, the four children and two adults in the home “had no gang affiliations whatsoever.”

That shooting prompted police to hunt for known gang members. Twenty guns were seized and officers made 76 felony arrests.

Police are asking for help arresting those responsible for the latest shootings. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 559-498-7867.

This story was originally published January 28, 2019 at 2:32 PM.