Gun violence erupts in different areas in Fresno, three men wounded, police say
The Fresno Police Department is investigating separate shootings late Thursday night after a man was wounded in northeast and two men were struck in central Fresno.
The first shooting happened at 10:58 p.m. at East Paul and North Cedar avenues where a man was shot in the head at Rotary East Park, Lt. Israel Reyes said.
The man, described only as in his 20s, was taken to Community Regional Medical Center and was listed in critical condition.
Reyes said a security guard pulled into the parking lot to lock the gates and noticed a vehicle crashed against a cinder block wall. Reyes said the security guard thought the driver was drunk.
The security guard kept knocking on the window but the man never responded, Reyes said. Officers arrived and unlocked the door and could hear the man gasping for air and noticed he had been shot in the head.
Officers noticed the man had a gun in his lap and initially thought he had suffered a self-inflected wound, Reyes said. Officers found shell casings in the parking lot and Reyes added there “might’ve been some type of disturbance in the parking lot” and “maybe an exchange of gunfire.”
Reyes said there were no witnesses to the shooting and no calls came in for reports of gunfire.
“I don’t know if that’s attributed to maybe because people were getting tired of fireworks and they are not even calling in.” he said. “Very unusual area to have a shooting and it is very unusual that we didn’t get calls for service regarding gunshots.”
Anyone with information on the shooting can call police at 559-621-7000.
Two wounded in apartment shooting
Officers responded to a shooting at 11:18 p.m. at the Parks Apartments, located in the 4000 block of North Fruit Avenue, near Ashlan Avenue.
Residents said there were multiple shots fired in the complex. Officers arrived to a chaotic scene, Reyes said.
Residents told officers there were an exchange of gunfire.
Officers located a blood trail leading through an apartment door, but didn’t locate a victim.
Officers were told there was a man shot in the buttock. The 43-year-old was taken to a hospital and was listed in stable condition.
A second victim — a 23-year-old man — walked into the hospital and said he was shot in the foot at the apartment, Reyes said.
Reyes said the 43-year-old man appears to be an innocent bystander who was caught in the middle of the gunfire. The man ran to the apartment when he was struck.
Two apartments and two vehicles were struck by gunfire.
No arrests have been made and no suspect description as detectives investigate the shooting.
“We’re very fortunate that we don’t have any innocent victims that were killed here tonight,” Reyes said.
