Fresno officers involved in shooting near Woodward Park. Police describe what happened
A man was shot and critically wounded by police late Wednesday night near Woodward Park in what Deputy Chief Burke Farrah called an attempted “suicide by cop.”
The shooting happened around 10:30 p.m. in the shopping center at North Fort Washington Road and East Stratford Drive, Farrah said. Police responded to a 911 call reporting a man there had a gun and was “waving it around and that he’s going to start shooting.”
“The person who called the police department told us the man had a firearm and that he was driving a white Volkswagen station wagon,” Farrah said.
Officers immediately responded to the parking lot and saw a white Volkswagen station wagon driving in a “very erratic manner doing donuts, burnouts in an attempt to draw the attention of the officers,” Farrah said.
Farrah said officers initiated an enforcement stop on the vehicle. The man got out of the vehicle and placed his right hand firmly in his jacket. The man, who Farrah said appeared to be in his 20s, ignored commands of the officers to stop and advanced toward the officers rapidly and drew a gun from his right hand pocket and pointed it at officers. The officers opened fire.
The man went down and the officers immediately dragged him to safety behind their police vehicles “because they were concerned there might be an additional threat inside the Volkswagen,” Farrah said.
No one else was found in the Volkswagen and officers did lifesaving efforts on the man.
The man was taken to Community Regional Medical Center and was listed in critical condition.
“The tragedy in all this is that the man who was shot was the man who called the police in the first place,” Farrah said. “He called our officers to tell us he was armed with a firearm. He called our officers and described his vehicle. He drove in an erratic manner to attract the attention of the officers and forced a confrontation.”
It turned out the gun the man displayed was plastic.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family,” Farrah said. “We pray for his recovery from these injuries. He had a plan to put our officers in a no-win situation. He did just that. Our thoughts are also with our officers at this time to deal with this very difficult situation of being put in a lethal force situation they neither wanted nor created. We have a lot of investigation still to do.”
Farrah said two officers were involved in the shooting.
Police will remain at the location through early Thursday morning to investigate the shooting and check with business owners to get surveillance video.
Farrah was emotional about what happened in what he described as a “horrible tragedy.”
“There is no doubt in my mind that this was a suicide by cop and the only thing we’re grateful for is that he was not successful,” he said. “We pray that he fully recovers from his injuries and gets the help he desperately needs.”
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 559-621-7000.
This story was originally published December 23, 2021 at 6:36 AM.
