Clovis police make an arrest in Old Town bar shooting; person later released

Clovis Police and SWAT personnel served a search warrant Sunday morning in Fresno and announced one arrest in the Old Town bar shooting that left two men dead and a third injured, but that person was later released after questioning by detectives working the case due to insufficient grounds for making a criminal complaint.

The shooting occurred early Saturday morning at the Palace Bar around 2 a.m. Officers responded to a 911 call and found two people inside and a third victim outside the bar. One of the victims was pronounced dead inside the bar and the other two were transported to local hospitals, where one of them later died. The third man who was shot was reported to be in stable condition and expected to survive, according to police.

Those killed were identified as Merehildo Luna, 21, of Fresno, and Andres Sanchez 27, of Sanger, according to the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office.

Investigators were working to uncover a possible motive, though after the shooting police were looking into the shooting as possibly gang-related.

“We did recover evidence this morning and we’re making good progress on the case,” Clovis Police Lt. Jim Munro said Sunday. “But that person at this point is not going to face criminal charges.”

This story was originally published May 23, 2021 at 10:12 AM.