Ashlan Avenue blocked off for police search in central Fresno

Fresno police blocked off Ashlan Avenue between Highway 41 and Blackstone Avenue in central Fresno on Wednesday afternoon and appeared to be focused on a home near an office at 2045 Ashlan Ave.

Neighbors say they saw two men in a black Mercedes acting suspiciously on Ashlan. One was found in a backyard bleeding and taken away by ambulance, they said. Police are searching the houses and yards for the second man.

About 15 police cars and the police helicopter were at the scene. Neighbors on the opposite side of Ashlan say police were looking for a man who ran through homes.

Fresno police Lt. Joe Gomez said police received report of shots fired nearby.

Two cars exchanged gunfire north of Gettysburg. Officers pursued the vehicles and found one, a black Mercedes, on Ashlan.

Two men in the Mercedes ran from the car.

Police found one suspect after a woman ran from her home screaming about a break-in. Officers caught him inside the home. He had apparently cut himself while breaking a window to get inside the house, and he was taken to the hospital with a superficial wound, Gomez said.

Officers are still searching for the second man in the Mercedes. He is described as a Hispanic man in his late 20s.

Police are also searching for a second car. Both cars appear to have been hit by gunfire, and police do not know if anyone was shot.

Investigators believe it may have been a drug deal gone wrong. They found marijuana in the Mercedes, Gomez said.

Gomez said there was no evidence that this gunbattle was related to an early morning shooting that left a 20-month-old dead.

This story was originally published June 22, 2016 at 2:43 PM with the headline "Ashlan Avenue blocked off for police search in central Fresno."