Police investigate officer-involved shooting in northeast Fresno

Fresno police continue to search for a weapon Tuesday and gather more information after an officer-involved shooting early Tuesday in northeast Fresno.

The man who was shot is in the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, according to police spokesman Jeff La Blue. The shooting took place just after midnight after a driver called police to report that a bicyclist threatened him with a handgun.

La Blue said the driver reported that he nearly struck the bicyclist near North Blackstone and East Barstow avenues about 12:30 a.m., and when he circled around to check on the bicyclist, the man brandished the weapon.

Two arriving officers were confronted by the man, and both fired their weapons. La Blue said that the man was hit “in the extremities.”

La Blue said while checking police calls for service, firefighters also reported that a man had earlier brandished a handgun at them near Blackstone and East Shaw Avenue, and there was another report of an armed man near the Manchester Center shopping center. Police were investigating whether the events were related.

Police continued to search for a gun that the man was reported to be carrying.

The name of man who was shot by officers was not immediately released, but La Blue said investigators learned that he had been sought on a felony theft warrant.

This story was originally published June 9, 2020 at 9:52 AM.