Woman shot in apparent Fresno carjacking, but police still aren’t sure exactly what happened
A woman passenger was shot by an apparent carjacker Friday in central Fresno, with the suspect fleeing and the driver able to take the victim to the hospital, only to leave before he could be questioned by police.
Shot in the back, the woman was listed in stable condition after the 11:15 a.m. incident near McKinley and West avenues. Little is known about her connection to the driver after he did not stick around, or what else may have led to their picking up the man.
The male driver and the woman had given the eventual gunman a ride, Fresno police Officer Felipe Uribe said. The man got into the backseat, but he then apparently demanded the vehicle and told the driver and the woman to stop the car and get out.
“They didn’t respond promptly to his request and he shot the female passenger” while the car was in motion, Uribe said.
The assailant then got out and ran into a nearby neighborhood, Uribe said.
Police went to a smoke shop near McKinley and West, where the pair was believed to have picked up the man.
Detectives were looking for surveillance video and hoping to talk to any witnesses who may have seen what happened.
“It is really difficult because we don’t have a specific scene,” Uribe said. “The vehicle was moving when this happened and we have to work a little bit backwards.
“Could there have been something else going on? We don’t know. We don’t know why this friend of the female who was with her, dropped her off and left. We can’t draw conclusions or speculate, so we’re working with what we have.”
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 559-621-7000.
