Fresno police say they shot and killed man for trying to kill his brother

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Police say a man who officers shot and killed Wednesday night in Southwest Fresno was intoxicated and not willing to back down.

The police chief says the suspect had a large carving knife inches away from his brother and refused to put it down.

Several bullet holes are left in the stucco at the Tulare Avenue home that police say is a boarding home for farm workers.

Investigators say 22-year-old Miguel Moreno Torrez had been drinking for hours when he got into a big fight with his brother, Jose.

Three minutes after a witness called 9-1-1 for help, officers were pulling up to the corner house. They saw Jose had already been injured and was about to be stabbed.

Fresno Police Department Chief Jerry Dyer said, "There was a physical altercation where one of the brothers had already been beaten up and he had a lot of blood on his face and ultimately he was seen by one of the other occupants who lives at this, what we believe to be a boarding house, and that person called the police."

Chief Dyer says the witness saw the entire fatal confrontation, and has given the same account as the surviving brother, and officers.

"One of the brothers was armed with a large kitchen carving knife with about an 8 to 10 inch blade. He did not comply, he did not get on the ground, and the officers repeatedly gave commands for him to drop the knife, but he did not," explained Chief Dyer.

Two officers fired several times, killing Miguel Torrez. Police say the brothers had recently moved to Fresno from Mexico to work in the fields. They had only been in the Central Valley since last November.

An autopsy was completed late Thursday. Toxicology tests were also taken to determine if alcohol or drugs were in Miguel's system.