Man who crashed into a parked car in central Fresno had been fatally shot in the chest

What initially appeared to be a car crash in central Fresno turned out to be a fatal shooting Tuesday.

Around 4 p.m., emergency crews arrived near the intersection of Arthur and Dakota avenues in front of the Garden Square Apartment complex after a Subaru Outback crashed into a parked car.

While rendering CPR to the crash victim, medics noticed the man had suffered a single gunshot wound in his chest, according to Sgt. Tim Tietjen.

He was immediately taken to Community Regional Medical Center but died.

The shooting was not believed to have happened at the scene of the car crash, Tietjen said. No other details were immediately available.

Wednesday, the Fresno County Coroner’s Office identified the victim as Michael Smith, 31, of Cool, a foothill community east of Auburn.

This story was originally published April 21, 2020 at 7:31 PM.