Pursuit ensues after man is fatally shot at a Fresno store. Two people are in custody
A man was shot and killed Sunday evening in a southwest Fresno business parking lot.
The shooting happened at 5:18 p.m. at Zacks Smoke Shop at California Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard. The man, identified only as being in his 40s, was taken to Community Regional Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
Multiple shots were fired, Fresno police Lt. Zeb Price said.
Officers saw a suspect vehicle leaving the area and pursued it until they were in position to perform a maneuver known as a PIT (precision immobilization technique) about a mile away at Church and Walnut avenues to end the chase.
Witnesses had provided a description of a car thought to be involved, police said.
It remained unclear if the man who was shot was an employee or a customer at the store. The business was open at the time of the shooting.
Two people in the vehicle were detained without incident, according to authorities.
Price said officers were initially responding to a report of a person brandishing a weapon from a white vehicle that happened earlier in the day and arrived at the parking lot in hopes of finding the vehicle when they heard multiple shots at Zacks.
A gun was discarded during the pursuit, Price said. Officers believe there was a second gun discarded, too, but it wasn’t immediately found.
It’s unknown if there was a disturbance prior to the shooting, Price said.
The two scenes will be investigated for several hours.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 559-621-7000.
This story was originally published April 16, 2023 at 7:01 PM.
