Suspect shot by deputies in Fresno slipped her handcuffs and pulled gun, police say
Two deputies with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office shot a woman in northwest Fresno on Thursday after she allegedly shot at them during a traffic stop.
The shooting was reported at 2:43 p.m. on Valentine Avenue between Shaw and San Jose avenues.
The Fresno Police Department took over the investigation since the shooting happened on city streets.
Police Chief Paco Balderrama in an update at the scene Thursday afternoon said the deputies were with the Multi-Agency Gang Enforcement Consortium (MAGEC) team that was doing surveillance on an apartment, looking for a 30-year-old woman who was wanted on a Ramey warrant for assault with a deadly weapon and who was also a convicted felon.
Deputies identified the vehicle the suspect was in as it left the apartment complex and went west on San Jose before going north on Valentine. Three marked deputy vehicles pulled over the vehicle for a felony traffic stop.
The suspect was compliant, Balderrama said.
She was placed in handcuffs and put in a patrol vehicle, but slipped out of the cuffs. She produced a gun and fired one round at the deputies, the police chief said.
Two of the deputies returned fire and struck the woman twice in the upper torso.
She was taken to a local hospital and was listed in critical but stable condition, Balderrama said.
The woman was wanted in a domestic-related shooting that happened on July 15 in the 1400 block of Calimyrna Avenue, Balderrama said. A victim was shot in the face.
“It’s possible the firearm she had today is the same firearm that was used at that shooting,” Balderrama said.
That shooting is still under investigation.
The two deputies have over 10 years of experience each, Fresno County assistant Sheriff John Zanoni said.
Zanoni said the deputies were initially going to serve an eviction on the suspect before learning she had the warrant out for her arrest. That’s when they called in the MAGEC team as backup.
No law enforcement personnel were injured in the incident.
This story was originally published August 11, 2022 at 3:06 PM.
