Shooting leaves man dead in East Central Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A man is dead after a shooting in Central Fresno Saturday, and investigators are looking for the suspects responsible.

The shooting happened near Cedar and Weldon Avenues around 3 p.m. The Fresno County Sheriff's Office says three men wearing black bandanas got out of the car and started shooting, killing a man in his 20s.

Shell casings littered the hot pavement in Central Fresno where investigators say three men in a light-colored car sprayed bullets and killed the 23-year-old.

The shooting happened near the busy road where many people like Doug Johns lives who said he was washing his car when the shots rang out.

"It just sounded like somebody setting off more firecrackers or something," he said. "It's hard to distinguish."

But the reality of what happened was noticeable. Within minutes, both the Fresno County Sheriff's Office and the Fresno Police Department swarmed the neighborhood looking for the victim gunned down in broad daylight.

"He was actually on the east side of the street when he was shot, so he managed to go into the apartments and at that point, he ended up staying when police found him," Lt. Jose Salinas with the sheriff's office said.

First responders performed CPR on the man until paramedics showed up and rushed him to Community Regional Medical Center where he later died.

As detectives scoured the scene and talked to witnesses, neighbors like Johns, who has lived here for 62 years, sat in disbelief. He says this is a familiar story of violence and admits it is getting out of control.

"It's happening more and more," he said. "It's sad. This used to be a good neighborhood and good city. It's just going all to hell, you know."

And investigators right now are not saying if this shooting is gang-related, however, they said there are a number of gang members who live in that area.