Suspect shot by Fresno police after allegedly charging officer with knife

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A man was shot by a Fresno Police officer after police say he charged at them with a weapon. The shooting happened early Saturday morning in west-central Fresno.

The suspect has been identified as 54-year-old Felipe Silva, and he was shot after allegedly charging at an officer with a knife. It all started when a neighbor said Silva was standing in his front yard at about 5 a.m., cursing and removing a screen from his window.

"That suspect then also tried to stab one of the dogs in the yard and eventually began to walk away," Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said.

The neighbor then called 911. When police arrived, they say the officer began telling Silva to drop the eight-inch blade in his hand, but Aledgedra Yancy says the suspect did not.

"The cop warned him like multiple times to put down the knife, but when the man started running at him, that's when the cop shot," she said.

Neighbors said Silva lived a few doors down from where the shooting took place. Silva's girlfriend said he should have never been shot.

"I been out here all day, till they finished everything," she said. "They couldn't find no weapon that they said that he had."

Silva's girlfriend says he was shot in the leg and taken to Community Regional Medical Center and is expected to recover. The officer who fired the three rounds has been placed on administrative leave.

This is the first officer-involved shooting of the year. The officer was wearing a body camera and that evidence is being fully reviewed in this case