Thread: 3 officers shot near Fresno, CA. UPDATE SUSPECT DEAD

3 officers shot near Fresno, Calif.

Arson suspect reportedly opens fire on deputies serving warrant
NBC, msnbc.com and news services
updated 14 minutes ago

FRESNO, Calif. - A suspect in an arson opened fire Thursday on deputies and a fire investigator trying to serve an arrest warrant, authorities said. Three law-enforcement officers were shot.

The victims were taken to a local hospital. Two officers — a Fresno County sheriff's deputy shot in the side under his armpit and a Reedley police officer wounded in the head — were in critical condition, The Fresno Bee reported.

A third officer, a sheriff's deputy, was shot in the shoulder. His condition was not known, the Bee reported.

A witness, Bret McArron, told KSEE-TV the shooting occurred at a house in an impoverished neighborhood with a lot of mobile homes in the community of Minkler in eastern Fresno County.

The gunman barricaded himself inside the house and fire repeatedly on law enforcement officials, sheriff's spokesman Chris Curtice said.

Jim Stone, 46, who lives about 100 feet from the surrounded home, said he was evacuated after the shooting erupted. Stone said he heard what sounded like hundreds of shots.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35587861/ns ... nd_courts/

Fresno Co. authorities shot while serving warrant

Posted at 10:23 AM on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010

12:58 p.m.: Mary Novack, manager of the Minkler grocery store across the road from the scene of the shooting, said four cars with Cal Fire officers and Fresno County sheriff’s deputies showed up before 10 a.m. Five or six of them went to the door of a mobile home and knocked, but got no answer. They then used a loudspeaker, telling the residents to come out, but no one did.

They then broke down the mobile home's door, and that’s when Novack started hearing gunshots. The officers left the mobile home and she said more and more rounds were heard. The officers regrouped, she said, and then "everyone in the world showed up.â€

1:20 p.m.: Neighbors said the suspect rented a mobile home from the Minkler family and apparently was having a feud with family members, one neighbor said.

An ambulance was sent Monday to a home next door to the suspect. There, a 69-year-old woman in the Minkler family was reported shot or stabbed, according to Fresno County Emergency Medical Services records.

The neighbor said he believed the suspect the Monday incident was the same man believed to have shot officers today.

The woman's wounds were not life-threatening and she was not hospitalized.

He also has fired shots into the Minkler grocery store, the neighbor said.

John Walker / The Fresno Bee
A Fresno County sheriff's deputy with a head wound taken into Community Regional Medical Center's emergency ward Thursday morning following a shooting in Minkler.

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http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/02/25/183 ... orted.html

1:53 p.m.: The Minkler mobile home where the shootings occurred is currently surrounded by law enforcement officers from numerous agencies. The suspect has reportedly barricaded himself inside.

1:47 p.m.: Fresno County sheriff's spokesman Chris Curtice, asked about the circumstances under which the deputies went to the Minkler mobile home this morning, would say only that the deputies were assisting Cal Fire authorities in an investigation.

http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/02/25/183 ... orted.html

Fresno County deputy dies after Minkler shooting

Feb. 25, 2010
The Fresno Bee

2:46 p.m.: Chuck Minkler, who rented a home to the man who lives in the mobile home currently under siege by law-enforcement, said there have been eight or nine fires on his 20-acre property over the past six months.

He said the man lives in the mobile home with a wife and a number of small dogs.

The fires, Minkler said, damaged a two-story storage structure and a small home, Minkler said. He estimates damage was about $100,000. He said someone also tried to set fire to a tractor on his property.

There also have been reports of shots fired into the Minkler store and a shot fired into his sister's home earlier this week. "The fires got more frequent over the past six months and we were growing more concerned about my sister," he said.

Sally Minkler was grazed in the back by shots that were fired in "rapid succession" at her home, which is near the mobile home where the man resides.

Minkler said he did not know if the man fired shots at the store or Sally Minkler's home, or set the fires.

"I got along with him when there was anything that had to be corrected I would talk to him and that's the way it worked," Chuck Minkler said. "There may have been some other issues but not to do with me."

2:38 p.m.: "This morning I had to deliver a message that no law enforcement leader wants to deliver," said Mims, her voice cracking with emotion. "I had to tell a wife that her husband has been killed in the line of duty."

2:37 p.m.: Mims said the purpose of the search warrant was based on reports of arson and on an investigation of shots that reportedly were fired from the house a couple of days ago.

2:30 p.m.: One of the Fresno County sheriff's deputies involved in Thursday morning's shooting in Minkler has died, Sheriff Margaret Mims said.

Fresno County deputies were assisting Cal Fire in serving a search warrant when the shooting occurred. Shots were fired as they were serving warrant.

Another deputy sheriff was wounded. A Reedley officer who arrived later to assist was shot and critically wounded.

The Fresno Police Department will conduct the investigation because the sheriff’s detectives who would have done the investigation were the ones shot.

http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/02/25/183 ... orted.html

My brother works in Fresno, he has a concealed carry permit, now you know why. It's the Wild Wild West.

3:30 p.m.: The sheriff's department has started hauling large, stadium-type lighting to the scene.

3:30 p.m.: Aida Romero lives about a mile from the shooting scene and was at the Minkler store when the shooting occurred.

Romero said he first saw four or five pickups down the street before they pulled into the driveway of the suspect's home. They were unmarked but had flashing police lights, she said.

The suspect, who was then outside, waved his gun around and then started shooting at the deputies, Romero said.

3:25 p.m.: Fresno County Coroner David Hadden confirmed his office had received the body of the slain sheriff's deputy.

The deputy's body, in a coroner's truck, was escorted by law enforcement vehicles in front and behind the truck, their light bars flashing.

Hadden, his voice cracking, said he and his staff were saddened because they had worked frequently with the slain detective.

"He was a really nice guy," Hadden said. "My whole staff is incredibly emotionally upset."

Hadden did not release the deputy's name.

3:10 p.m.: Some parents who have access to Centerville Elementary School — about a mile away from today's shooting in Minkler — will be able to pick up their children from school today, though the school remains on official lockdown.

If a parent isn't blocked by the perimeter set up by law enforcement and arrives at the school to pick up their child, "we have been given permission to release them," said Marcus Johnson, superintendent of Sanger Unified School District. He said children will be escorted to the gate to meet parents who arrive. The school day ends at 3:20 p.m.

Generally, the only people who will be able to get through the perimeter are west of the school located at 48 S. Smith Ave., near Highway 180. Johnson cautioned that parents shouldn't flood the school since it is still on lockdown and the children are safe.

The school was placed on lockdown at the urging of law enforcement after the shooting near Minkler occurred. "We are officially still under lockdown and will remain until we are cleared by the Sheriff's Department," Johnson said.

He said the school is prepared to hold the students in locked classrooms for their protection as long as necessary. The students ate lunch in locked classrooms Thursday and Johnson said Centerville's after-school program, with plenty of snacks, will keep students busy and fed. "It may be a while," Johnson said.

He said the school has sent out at least three recorded telephone messages to keep parents informed of the situation.

3:05 p.m.: The surviving Fresno County deputy wounded in the shooting reportedly was struck in his eyes by shrapnel.

4:15 p.m.:

The Fresno County Sheriff's Department says Highway 180 will remain closed between Piedra, Reed and Frankwood Avenues until further notice.

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I was born and raised In Fresno. It Is becoming a little Mexico just like Los Angeles. Gangs,graffiti,and guns.... Outdoor signs In Spanish.... Drunk driving hit and runs.... It just goes on and on. I am betting that this was an Illegal......... TS