FRESNO — Ten people were shot, Four people were killed and six wounded, in what police are calling a “mass casualty” shooting at a backyard football watch party in southeast Fresno, when “unknown suspects” sneaked into a backyard filled with people at a party in central California and fired into the crowd, Fresno Police Lieutenant Bill Dooley said.
Fresno police said Sunday. Reports of shots fired first came in around 6 p.m. near Peach and Olive Avenues, Fresno Police Lt. Bill Dooley told CBS Fresno affiliate KGPE-TV.Police told the Fresno Bee that friends and family were watching football in a backyard “when unknown suspects approached the residence, snuck into the backyard and opened fire.” About 35 people were gathered at the southeast Fresno home at the time, including several children.While officers were heading to the scene, more reports of shooting victims came in.
The suspected shooters were able to sneak into the backyard and open fire, Dooley said. Four men are dead–three were found dead in the backyard and the fourth victim died at the hospital, police told KGPE.
“Somebody came up on foot, possibly at least one suspect and began firing,” Fresno Deputy Police Chief Michael Reid said. “They fired into the backyard where most of the people were in this party, striking 10 people.”
BREAKING UPDATE: 10 people shot, 4 dead in a southeast #Fresno “mass casualty” shooting. https://t.co/2vaXcZ64J5 pic.twitter.com/1qKauUcz9U— CBS47 (@CBS47) November 18, 2019
All of the victims are Asian males aged 25-30, police said.
The victims were taken to Community Regional Medical Center in critical condition, and some are now stable, the TV stations reported.
“We’re going to exhaust every investigative lead we can to find out who did this, why they did this, and bring those folks to justice,” said Michael Reed, deputy chief of the Fresno Police Department.
About 35 people were at the party when the shooting began, Reid said.“Thank God that no kids were hurt,” he said.
The investigation is ongoing, and anyone with information about the shooting can call Fresno PD at 559-621-7000.