Guns and alcohol lead to accidental slaying of Clovis man. What deputies learned

A drinking bout Sunday night in the Sierra foothills led to a fatal shooting when three friends engaged in horseplay with a deadly weapon, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office reported.

Bradly Smith, 23, of Clovis was killed when a friend identified as Elvis Hernandez, 30, of Reedley fired a shotgun blast at him. Hernandez has been arrested on charges of involuntary manslaughter in the incident.

Sheriff’s spokesman Tony Botti said it took place in the 28000 block of Burrough Valley Road in the Tollhouse area east of Clovis. Deputies went to a home there after receiving a call about a man who was wounded by a gunshot. Emergency personnel were unable to save Smith after attempting CPR.

Botti said Hernandez, Smith and a third unidentified man were drinking alcohol before the unidentified man went to bed. That’s when the other two found some rubber bullets and decided to shoot the sleeping man for a joke. They put a mattress on top of him and fired one of the rubber bullets at the mattress, waking him up.

Smith then told the man that he could fire one of the rubber bullets at him as payback. Smith put on a military-style helmet and a protective vest and was shot with one of the rubber bullets, before telling Hernandez that he could also fire a rubber bullet at him. Mistakenly, Hernandez picked up a shotgun loaded with highly lethal 00 buckshot and hit Smith in the upper body.

Hernandez was booked into Fresno County Jail with a bond of $10,000.