Police name suspect they say killed his parents at home. Guns seized from home
Police on Monday identified the man they say killed his parents in their north Fresno home the previous day.
Police said Julian McElhaney, 22, was sitting on the lawn of his parents home on 10th Street near Bullard Avenue when officers arrived about 3:30 p.m.
He had shot to death his mother, 64-year-old Sylvia McElhaney, inside the home and his father, 55-year-old William McElhaney, on the front lawn of the home, police said.
Many questions remain unanswered, including his motive for the violence, where he got the gun and if he was suffering from mental illness, Chief Paco Balderrama said in an update Monday morning.
“We’re still trying to determine what his history is,” he said, “whether he has a criminal history in his past or whether he has a certified mental health condition.”
McElhaney himself called 911 and said he had killed his parents, according to police. He lived at the home with his parents, police said, and has at least one sibling.
Police said William McElhaney was a longtime employee of about 20 years for Clovis Unified School District, where he worked in the maintenance department.
Police said it does not appear that drugs nor alcohol contributed to the violence, and the accused shooter may have had mental illness issues, but that is not confirmed.
Police took several guns from the home, but Baderrama said it’s not yet clear who they belonged to and whether any belonged to the younger McElhaney.
He was taken into custody and police made their way inside the home, according to police. He’s held at the Fresno County Main Jail.
The killings are the 14th and 15th homicides investigated by Fresno police in 2022.
This story was originally published April 11, 2022 at 9:20 AM.
