Fresno police: Would-be car thief grabs resident’s rifle, is killed by officers after pursuit

Fresno Police officers shot and killed a man Sunday who was armed with a rifle he managed to get away from a resident, ending a long-running confrontation that included multiple rounds being fired at the suspect as he roamed through a neighborhood.

The incident ended with the fatal shooting of the man — identified by police Monday as Gregory Putnik, a 32-year-old parolee wanted in Illinois — just before 10 p.m. near Teilman and Pine avenues, south of McKinley Avenue and west of Fruit Avenue, Deputy Chief Pat Farmer said Sunday night.

In all, a sergeant and five other officers fired their handguns at the man, Farmer said, though it was not clear how many shots hit him. Another officer shot non-lethal rounds to no effect. It was not known if the man fired the rifle at any point.

It all began around 9:30 p.m. when a report came in from the 1300 block of North Esther Way of a man attempting to carjack a black Mercedes using a weapon that looked like a club. The driver was able to drive away and call police.

The man continued down Esther Way, investigators believe, and at some point began arguing with a neighborhood resident who came out with a rifle in hand. Somehow, the man got that rifle, Farmer said, which was described as a .22-caliber, and he began to walk down the street while still holding the weapon.

Shots fired, but was he hit?

An officer arrived and told the man to drop the rifle but he refused, according to Farmer. The officer fired a couple of rounds but was unsure if he hit the man, who continued to walk away.

Down the street, the man is suspected of having broken a window of a residence and eventually to have found an unlocked vehicle that he climbed into. But the man got out of the car, Farmer said, and continued down the street where he was shot with several bean-bag rounds to no avail.

Again, an officer decided he needed to fire lethal rounds, but like before was unsure if any hit the suspect, who continued walking down the street.

The man then broke into a second vehicle, Farmer explained, and moments later fled to a backyard where he covered himself in what appeared to be either a blanket or table cloth.

Police car becomes target

At one point, the deputy chief said, the man used the rifle to attempt to break into a police vehicle, only to see the stock break off the weapon.

The suspect then made his way toward Pine and Teilman, where officers demanded he drop the rifle and fired another round to unknown effect.

Finally, Farmer said, officers at the corner again pleaded with the man to drop the rifle but he refused. Multiple officers opened fire, striking the man, who fell to the ground.

Officers administered first aid and the man was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. In all, Farmer said, the incident lasted some 15 to 20 minutes.

Authorities did not release the man’s name but said he had three outstanding felony warrants that described him as potentially armed and dangerous.

Farmer said the rifle was loaded but investigators were still trying to determine if it had been fired.

Suspect identified

Putnik had multiple warrants from across the United States and was listed as an armed and dangerous felon, the Fresno police department reported Monday.

“He was also listed as a parolee at large out of Springfield, Illinois with a primary violation of assault on a police officer,” the department said in a news release.

The Fresno Police Department Homicide Unit, the City of Fresno Civil Liability Team, the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office and the City of Fresno’s Office Independent Review are investigating.

The five officers and one sergeant involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave pending the investigation.

One day earlier, another OIS

It was the second officer-involved shooting involving the Fresno Police Department in two days.

On Saturday, Miguel Carranza, 22, was fired on by four officers, Farmer said that night, after Carranza failed to heed warnings to drop a kitchen knife — even after officers said one of them fired two rounds from a bean-bag-projectile gun.

Carranza is accused of stabbing his mother to death at the home they shared at Balch and Cedar avenues, then admitting the killing during a 911 call in which he also said he was suicidal. Carranza was expected to survive, Farmer said Saturday.

This story was originally published October 19, 2020 at 4:33 AM.