Family left asking questions after deadly apartment shooting in Southeast Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Investigators are trying to figure out the cause of a deadly shooting Friday morning at an apartment complex near Peach and Clay Avenues.

Family members say 23-year-old Dominique Hickey died and they want to know more about the circumstances surrounding his puzzling death.

Distraught family members showed up to the landing at Fancher Creek Friday morning, crying and asking questions about what happened to the 23-year-old Fresno City College student.

Fresno police were called to the deadly shooting at about 9:15 a.m. when an unidentified man called 911 to report an unusual event inside his east-central Fresno apartment. "The caller was the friend of the shooting victim," Lt. Joe Gomez with the Fresno Police Department said. "The caller said that the victim shot himself and interestingly, the caller was not at the apartment. According to what he was saying, he got scared and he took off after the shooting.

The victim's sister said Hickey left her home Friday morning to visit a friend. She said her brother does not have mental health problems or depression issues and would not voluntarily shoot himself in the chest.

The victim was alone, dying inside the apartment when officers pulled up. Investigators spent the day all day at the scene, at one point peering into a drain looking for clues and talking to neighbors.

Detectives did find one clue nearby. "Too early to say though if that was the gun he was shot with though but a gun was found in the apartment," Gomez reported.

Late Friday, the 911 caller showed up at police headquarters to talk to homicide detectives his statements along with other evidence, like gunshot residue tests, that detectives are relying on to determine what happened that end Hickey's life.