Police search for New Year's Day shooting spree suspects

Jason Oliveira Image
Wednesday, January 3, 2018
Fresno police believe they are close to nabbing two men who crashed and then fled this vehicle after going on a New Year's Day shooting spree.
Fresno police believe they are close to nabbing two men who crashed and then fled this vehicle after going on a New Year's Day shooting spree.

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fresno police believe they are close to nabbing two men who crashed and then fled the vehicle after going on a New Year's Day shooting spree.

Chief Jerry Dyer of the Fresno Police Department said, "The vehicle we recovered is being processed for DNA and fingerprints and we're very confident we're going to be able to come up with who the individuals who were inside that vehicle."

The suspects opened fire on multiple people around town beginning Monday morning around 10:30 near Thorne and Whitesbridge.

It is believed the same shooter hit three people in four different shootings within a few hours of each other before crashing their Chrysler 200 near McKinley and Normal.

RELATED: Police search for suspect after 3 injured in 4 random shootings within hours of each other

"In all four incidents, we have similar shell casings. Those shell casings are now being tested by our crime scene investigators to determine if they all came from the same firearm," Dyer said.

Two of the victims, a 17 and 23-year old are both expected to recover but police say the third victim, believed to be a transient, has not been located.

While police continue to investigate leads the big question is, why did this happen?

"It's still a mystery, it's not only a who done it but a why did they do it and that is what our investigators are trying to determine," Dyer said.

While the motive behind the shootings still remains unclear, Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer does not believe the shootings are connected to a recent rash of random shootings in Fresno and Madera Counties in which investigators are looking for a dark-colored pickup truck with oversized tires.