4 teens arrested for allegedly shooting Edison High teacher

BY JACOB RAYBURN AND ANGELA SASAKI
The Fresno BeeDecember 24, 2013 Updated 2 hours ago


Four teenage male gang members have been arrested as suspects in the shooting of an Edison High School teacher, police Chief Jerry Dyer said at a press conference on Tuesday Dec. 24, 2013. Left to right in back are Fresno Unified Superintendent Michael Hansen and Fresno police Sgt. Ron Hughes.
MARK CROSSE — THE FRESNO BEE

Fresno police Chief Jerry Dyer announced on Christmas Eve that four male teenage Norteno gang members were arrested as suspects in the shooting of an Edison High School teacher.

Dyer said the boys, one 17 and the others 16 years old, entered the classroom at 7 p.m. Thursday just after Edison trainer Steven Guerrero called his wife to say he was leaving. Dyer said the 17-year-old pointed a handgun at Guerrero, and another boy hit the trainer and part-time teacher in the head with a 25-pound weight.

The blow momentarily stunned Guerrero, but then the teacher knocked the gun away before the oldest boy grabbed it and fired five times, with two shots hitting Guerrero.

He sustained wounds that were not life-threatening. He grabbed the gun and fired one shot at the boys as they fled.

Dyer said a break in the case occurred when a 62-year-old woman told police that four boys, one armed with a handgun and another with a sawed-off rifle, beat her in an alley near the school just before the shooting. Police then got five search warrants.

Dyer said one search of a home near the school led to the discovery of a bullet from the handgun allegedly used in the shooting.

The suspects were arrested starting Monday night, with the last teen taken into custody Tuesday afternoon. The shooting suspect confessed, Dyer said, and Guerrero identified the boy who had held the rifle. The teens will likely be charged with assault with a deadly weapon, attempted robbery, conspiracy and other charges.

"These are juveniles, but they are ruthless," Dyer said. "They were trying to prove their value to the gang."

Dyer said the suspects were students at New Millennium charter school and the shooter was previously a student at Edison.

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