Shooting leaves one dead, two injured in Fresno

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By ABC30

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Fresno, CA It happened at an apartment complex at Dakota and Arthur in /*Central Fresno*/ ... That's the same complex where another person was shot over the weekend.

Police say two men wearing bandanas forced their way into the apartment last night and shot a father, his teenage son, and a third man. Now officers are trying to figure out if this shooting is connected to one that happened next door on Saturday.

This was the scene Tuesday night as paramedics rushed to help three people who were all shot in one unit of this Central Fresno apartment complex. A 45 year old father died at the hospital. His 17 year old son and a 30 year old man are now recovering from their wounds as police search for the shooters.

Lt. Tony Bennink said, "There were 2 males that forced their way into the residence and shot the 3 victims. They had their faces covered with bandanas, so we have very little description of who they are."

Signs of the crime remained at the scene Wednesday afternoon ... including this boarded up front door and a broken hinge. Just next door, a bullet hole serves as a visible reminder of another shooting that left one person injured just three days earlier.

"We're trying to determine if those shootings are related, but we haven't made that link for certain yet," said Lt. Bennink.

Neighbors who did not want to speak on camera say they're very worried about the recent violence, especially since many children live here. But the apartment manager insists this is normally a peaceful place that's equipped with security cameras as a precaution.

/*Bridlewood Apartment*/ Mngr. Gloria Chavez said, "My son's been in this complex three years, and we play right here in the playground with my grandkids, and the majority of people here are good tenants."

And Gloria Chavez points out that this area was recently in the spotlight for a positive reason when the /*Extreme Makeover Home Edition*/ team transformed the nearby /*Riojas*/ family house.

"That was a big bump up to this community and for something like to happen is really a tragedy, I never would expect this here at Bridlewood," said Chavez.

Police say Saturday's shooting was gang related but they're not sure yet if last night's shooting also had gang ties.

The 17 year old and 30 year old victims are expected to survive.