‘Grace of God’ prevented innocent casualties in midday gang shootout, Fresno Police say
Fresno Police say it was “only by the grace of God nobody else was hurt” Wednesday when gunfire broke out at a busy strip mall at midday, killing one man and wounding a second.
“We’re talking about a busy shopping commerce area in the middle of the day,” said Lt. Paul Cervantes. “Multiple shots were fired in either direction.”
The shooting broke out at the smoke shop at Blackstone and Princeton avenues just before noon.
Cervantes said the shootings took place when two groups crossed paths in the Superior Smoke Shop in the mall at 11:50 a.m.
Both victims are in their mid-20s. Cervantes said investigators believe three suspects who started the violence knew the victims, who have not been identified. The Multi-Agency Gang Enforcement Consortium unit is taking part in the search.
Cervantes said camera surveillance inside the smoke shop shows three men walk into the store, two armed with handguns. They saw the victims arrive in a car, and two in the first group pulled out handguns. When one victim entered, he was immediately hit by gunfire. The suspects then walked out of the store, and it appears they began firing at the second victim, who is believed to have returned fire. The suspects ran from the scene.
“This is not a random act of violence,” said Cervantes. “We’re confident that our unit will be able to locate, identify and apprehend those persons.” Cervantes asked anyone with information about the shootings to call Crime Stoppers at 559-498-7867.
This story was originally published December 14, 2022 at 6:11 PM.