Police probe SE violence connected to Sureno gang

Three Sureno gang members are in custody after a flare-up of violence involving the gang in southeast Fresno, police report. A 15-year-old west Fresno gang member is also in custody in connection to the violence in the area, Lt. Mark Salazar said.

Salazar, commander of the department’s southeast district, said the Sureno arrests follow three recent shootings in the area. The first, involving Bulldog and Sureno gang members, took place on Jan. 26 at Willow and Fillmore avenues. Friday, a Bulldog gang member was shot in the 5100 block of East Kings Canyon Road and police detained three suspected Surenos running through nearby Pilibos Park a short time later. Salazar said police identified one, Will Ortiz, 20, as the Kings Canyon gunman and attempted murder charges have been filed against him by the Fresno District Attorney’s Office. The other two members were arrested on other charges and Salazar said police believe one is linked to the Williow-Fillmore shooting.

On Monday, shots were fired into a home in the 4700 block of East Liberty Avenue, where a Sureno gang member resides. Salazar said the shooting was related to a December robbery of a Sureno gang member by the west Fresno gang member, who was arrested Wednesday in the Ranchwoods apartment complex and booked connection with the December robbery. The Liberty shooting remains under investigation.

This story was originally published February 4, 2016 at 1:23 PM with the headline "Police probe SE violence connected to Sureno gang."