Fresno police target top gang members after shooting spree

Fresno police are targeting 20 of the city’s most violent gang members after two brothers were shot to death and two of their family members were wounded during three consecutive days of shootings.

Police Chief Jerry Dyer said he is ordering his officers to put a special emphasis on gangs and gun violence after eight shootings in a week in order to prevent the spike in crime from becoming a trend.

The chief spoke in the wake of the slayings of Willie Ford, 19, and Denzel Ford, 18, who were gunned down Thursday in front of an apartment complex on San Pablo Avenue near Barstow Avenue, west of Blackstone Avenue in northwest Fresno.

Police said the brothers were armed gang members who were shot when they went to an apartment complex to confront Domenek Greenberry, 19. One of the slain brothers managed to fire a round at Greenberry, who police say is also a gang member. Greenberry was booked on double murder charges after the noontime shooting, in which a woman bystander sustained a minor gunshot wound.

Friday night, the Fords’ sister was shot in the hand and a cousin was shot in the leg by an unknown gunman while they were attending a vigil for the brothers on San Pablo. Saturday night, the boyfriend of one of the Fords’ sisters was shot in the leg at Dakota and Brawley avenues west of Highway 99.

Dyer noted that the toll on one family is “absolutely a rarity.” It includes the death of another brother, Benzo Ford, 17, who was fatally shot in July by an unknown shooter while he was inside a west Fresno dwelling.

The chief said plainclothes and uniformed officers will be keeping a close watch on the funeral of the Ford brothers to prevent more violence.

Unrelated gun violence continued Sunday night, when a man was shot in the chest near Farris and Herndon avenues in what is possibly connected to the Bulldog gang, the chief said.

Dyer said more than 70 percent of shootings in the city are connected to gangs. Greenberry, Willie Ford and Denzel Ford all had a history of firearm arrests or convictions. They still were carrying weapons despite recent run-ins with the law over guns and that shows that gang members are “willing to take the risk of being arrested with a firearm and facing whatever consequences there are in the criminal justice system because they know that it is a slow system,” Dyer said.

“We have to do a better job within our own criminal justice system of getting these individuals through the system in a more timely manner so they’re less likely to be out on the street.”

The chief also noted the prevalence of guns in the city.

“There is not a shortage of firearms in the hands of the wrong people,” he said.

Addressing residents’ concerns about increased violence in northwest Fresno, Dyer said the department is concerned about violence regardless of where it takes place, and added: “We are going to do everything possible to stop the violence, including increased police presence.

“Four days do not define a city.”

This story was originally published October 5, 2015 at 2:50 PM with the headline "Fresno police target top gang members after shooting spree."