Man shot while driving just one incident in a 24-hour run of gun violence in Fresno
A man is in the hospital after he was struck by a bullet while driving in northeast Fresno, part of a rough day for city and county officers as they scrambled from one shooting to another over a 24-hour stretch from early Saturday into Sunday.
Three people were killed and three injured in incidents scattered across town and just outside the city limits from about 1:15 a.m. Saturday to just after midnight on Sunday.
It was unclear in all of the incidents whether any motives or suspects were identified, or even if the people who were shot were the intended targets.
In addition to the driver possibly shot at random, another man was struck while he was merely pumping gas.
“We obviously don’t want anybody to get hurt, but we also worry about unintended victims,” Fresno police Lt. Israel Reyes said.
In the northeast Fresno shooting, officers received a call about 9:40 p.m. of a shooting into an apartment at North Fresno Street and East Calimyrna Avenue.
Reyes said as officers recovered shell casings on the street, they received a call from St. Agnes Hospital of a shooting victim. He had been taken to the hospital by friends and was listed in stable condition.
The officers interviewed the man who said he was in the area of Fresno and Calimyrna when he heard a gunshot as he was about to make a right turn. He was hit in the back by the bullet.
Little information was available about the victim, including where he was headed.
The man told officers he doesn’t know who shot at him. Officers were canvassing the area for surveillance video but no suspect information had been released as of Sunday morning.
Among the other incidents in the latest rash of shootings:
▪ 1:15 a.m. Saturday: The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office responded to a shooting in the northwest Fresno area, just outside city jurisdiction, that saw one man killed and another injured at a home on Cornelia Avenue, near Shields and Polk avenues. The deceased victim has been identified by the Fresno County Coroner’s Office as Jose Luis Perez Jr., 21, of Fresno.
▪ 1:30 a.m. Saturday: A man was shot to death on Recreation Avenue south of Butler Avenue. The man, who has been identified as Joshua Galvan, 31, of Fresno, was found in the street near the sidewalk.
▪ 6:19 p.m. Saturday: A man was shot and killed in his vehicle at South Bardell and East Calwa avenues, south of Jensen Avenue and west of Elm Avenue, in southwest Fresno. He has been identified as Kylin Baca-Fullmer, 24, of Fresno.
“It worries us when we have shootings in broad daylight,” Reyes said. “That happened at 6 o’clock. Tons of people out there. There are kids and everything.”
▪ 12:13 a.m. Sunday: Dozens of rounds were fired toward the parking lot of a busy ARCO gas station and convenience store on Fresno Street near Highway 99 west of downtown. A 24-year-old man was the only person hit, grazed in the mouth.
The Fresno Police Department’s ShotSpotter gunfire-detection system picked up a 20-round burst and a second one of 16 rounds. It was unclear who, if anyone, at the station was the target.
“It doesn’t seem like he was the intended victim ...,” Reyes said after that incident. “He was just here pumping gas. ... We’re lucky we don’t have a bunch of shooting victims out here.”
After the 9:40 p.m. incident, Reyes also noted in that case they were unsure if there was any connection between the victim and the assailant, “but we always worry about some innocent victim being struck by gunfire that is minding their own business.”
Anyone with information about the shootings can call police at 559-621-7000.
The shooting at Cornelia is being handled by the Sheriff’s Office and those who might be able to help with the investigation can call Det. Gary Haslam at 559-600-8209.
Valley Crime Stoppers allows for people to remain anonymous at 559-498-7867 or www.valleycrimestoppers.org.
This story was originally published August 1, 2021 at 11:40 AM.
