Homicide victim found shot inside car identified by Fresno police

Fresno police Monday identified a man shot to death in a car in central Fresno as Jose Angel Martinez, 31, of Fresno.

Lt. Larry Bowlan, of the department’s Street Violence Bureau, said Martinez appeared to have been sitting in the driver’s seat of a black sedan when he was shot.

Emergency personnel received a call to check on welfare of the victim about 6 a.m. Sunday and found Martinez unresponsive. He had suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the upper body and was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators are working to establish the time of death.

The shooting took place near a homeless encampment on the south side of Tyler Avenue, which parallels Highway 180. The encampment stretches for multiple blocks, where sections of the chain link fence separating Tyler from the highway have been ripped open to allow access to tents and other camping structures.

Bowlan said that Martinez was not believed to be homeless, but police previously noted that investigators suspect gang activity takes place nearby. There were two previous, unrelated, fatal shootings in the area this year: One on Jan 8. at Tyler and Fifth Street, and a second on Aug. 11 at Tyler and Ninth Street.

The slaying was the 53rd in Fresno this year.

Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call detectives at 559-621-2407 of Crime Stoppers at 559-498-7867.

This story was originally published November 9, 2020 at 2:03 PM.