Fresno County Sheriff’s deputy shot by his own gun during struggle with suspect

A Fresno County Sheriff’s deputy was shot Wednesday in central Fresno.

At 4:30 p.m., a deputy was responding to a domestic violence call at North Sixth Street and East Mayfair Drive South when he saw a man walking in the area, sheriff’s office spokesman Tony Botti said.

Botti said the deputy tried to the stop the man, identified as 25-year-old Ricardo Venegas of Mendota, but the man immediately took a fighting stance and attacked the deputy.

“During this fight, Venegas reached several times for the deputy’s holstered handgun,” Botti said. “During the struggle, a round was discharged from the deputy’s handgun while inside the holster.”

An off-duty deputy was in the area and helped detain the suspect, who is also a wanted parolee.

The deputy had a bullet graze his upper leg. He was treated at Community Regional Medical Center and released Wednesday night, Botti said.

Authorities weren’t sure if the domestic violence call was related to the suspect.

Venegas remained in Fresno County Jail as of Thursday afternoon. He faces several felony charges related to Wednesday’s incident and others tied to investigations by other law enforcement agencies. Botti said detectives are recommending an attempted murder charge against Venegas for attacking the deputy. Bail for Venegas is $636,000.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone who witnessed the incident or captured video of it is asked to contact sheriff’s office Detective Adrian Villegas at 559-600-8210.

This story was originally published March 11, 2020 at 6:50 PM.