Security guard shot to death at Motel 6 in central Fresno, police say

A security guard on the job was shot to death Tuesday night at a Motel 6, according to Fresno Police.

Officers responded around 10:19 p.m. at the Motel 6 near Blackstone and Griffith avenues in central Fresno, where they discovered a man shot in his chest, Lt. Paul Cervantes confirmed.

Despite life-saving measures by officers immediately upon locating the victim, the security guard died at the scene, Cervantes said.

He was in his 20s.

Police said the security guard was in uniform, but not wearing a bullet proof vest nor was he armed. He was shot at least one time in the upper chest area.

It was not immediately known why the security guard was shot at or what led to the shooting.

Police did say a disturbance at the motel occurred prior to the shooting but the cause of that situation was not immediately known.

Cervantes said the shooting incident was captured on video surveillance and detectives were reviewing the footage.

There was no information immediately available about the suspect(s).

But police believe multiple people were involved in the shooting.

“Unfortunately, as of late, our city is experiencing a tremendous amount of violent crimes,” Cervantes said.

It was not immediately known how many homicides had occurred in Fresno this year. But Fresno had experienced 44 homicides entering August.

This is the second time in the past four years that a security guard has been shot at a Motel 6 in the area while on duty.

In 2017, a 25-year-old security guard was shot and killed after an argument with a man visiting a woman at another nearby Motel 6. The gunman, Kori Ali Muhammad, was convicted in 2020 of killing four other people in a mass shooting in downtown Fresno.

Anyone with information about Tuesday’s shooting is encouraged to contact police or leave at tip at 559-621-7000.

This story was originally published August 24, 2021 at 11:10 PM.