Update: Suspect killed at police headquarters identified. Detective released from hospital
Fresno police on Wednesday named the man they said slipped through secure entrances and attacked a detective with a weapon before the detective shot the man to death.
The alleged attacker was Joseph Lee Roy, 24, according to Fresno police.
The assault happened about 11:45 a.m. Tuesday in the detective’s office at the Fresno Police Department’s Annex building on N and Fresno streets, according to Police Chief Paco Balderrama.
Roy grabbed a sharp object and began stabbing the detective, police said. The detective suffered a puncture wound to the top of his head, a large laceration starting from the top of his head down the right side of his face and a concussion, according to police.
Lt. Bill Dooley said Wednesday in a news conference that police are still working to determine what Roy was wielding but it appears he picked it up on his way into the office.
The detective has been released from the hospital, police said.
Police said it was not clear how the man got past locked gates and secured doors to enter the building, but that he wasn’t supposed to be there and was not immediately familiar to officers.
Police said Roy on Wednesday attended a court hearing before the alleged attack on the detective related to an assault with a deadly weapon case where Roy was a suspect in June 2021.
Roy pleaded no contest to the felony offense and was in court Tuesday to be sentenced, but the hearing got pushed back to a later date, according to Jerry Stanley, spokesperson for the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office.
Roy had been arrested another time in 2018, Dooley said, adding Roy had been held twice for mental health reasons. Dooley said he could not elaborate on the reasons for the mental health holds.
At some point during the incident Tuesday, the officer fired at least one shot at the suspect, Balderrama said. The suspect died at the scene.
Police have not released the name of the detective.
“We know this for a fact, there’s no connection between the detective who was assaulted and Mr. Roy,” Dooley said. “They’ve never had contact. The detective has not worked any of his cases.
“As far we can tell, this is a random act on our detective.”
The shooting is the fourth by an officer so far this year, compared to one at the same time last year.
Balderrama on Tuesday described the suspect as 6 feet tall, about 300 pounds and around 25 years old.
Balderrama said the detective involved was in his 40s or 50s and has been in law enforcement about 25 years. He said the detective is “not very big in stature.”
The city’s Office of Independent review and the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office will be asked to be involved in the investigation, Balderrama said.
Security at Fresno Police Department
Dooley said Wednesday that police are still working to determine how Roy got in the building. The annex has one door that faces Fresno Street that is not behind a locked gate, but it does require a key fob to open.
Until police can determine where security broke down, Dooley said, an officer will be assigned to watch that door.
The building also does not have surveillance video inside that would have captured the struggle and shooting, Dooley said. Detectives do not wear body cameras like patrol officers do.
Dooley said he has not spoken to the detective so he could not say how long the struggle lasted before the detective fired his service weapon. It is routine to give police several days to respond to investigators after they shoot somebody while on the job.
The officer works in a “small office” by himself but other officers were in rooms nearby, according to Dooley. He could not say at what point other officers recognized something was amiss.
Dooley said overwhelmingly when an officer gets into a fight with a suspect, the suspect is trying to get away.
“He was not fighting to try and escape, he was fighting to try and hurt,” he said. “That is a very scary situation.”
This story was originally published March 30, 2022 at 9:03 AM.
