15-year-old high school student shot and killed in Parlier
PARLIER, Calif. (KFSN) -- A teenager was shot and killed inside his Parlier home just before midnight Thursday night.
It's the second time this year someone shot and killed a boy through a window in the small city.
Neither of those shootings is solved, but investigators have some new tools to investigate.
A broken window with evidence markers is what's left at the Parlier home where gunfire rang out just before midnight.
"We believe that shots were fired from outside of the home into the home, striking Anthony Garcia," said Fresno County Sheriff's Office spokesman Tony Botti.
Garcia was a 15-year-old rising sophomore at Parlier High School.
Detectives are interviewing neighbors and canvassing the area for video evidence.
Like a lot of other cities, Parlier had a rash of violence in 2021.
But Police Chief David Cerda says his department has made inroads through large-scale operations with other agencies, plus 60 new surveillance cameras throughout the city and six additional officers funded through Measure Q.
"Over the last six months, our stats show that our crime stats have declined significantly," Cerda said.
The most obvious drop is in assaults.
The city recorded 151 in 2021 and only 16 halfway through 2022.
At two homicides so far this year, the pace is about the same as last year.
Like Garcia, the other victim was a Parlier High School student shot through a window at his home.
The February murder of 16-year-old Ricardo Chavana is unsolved.
Detectives haven't connected the two cases.
Chavana's killer walked up to a window at the back of his house.
Detectives say Garcia may have been hit in a drive-by, so they're looking for any gang connections.
"And this is the sad part when you live a life that can bring trouble to your front door, it's very dangerous for everybody who stays there," Botti said.
Investigators are also hoping for tips from anyone who might've been in the area late last night.
You can anonymously call Crimestoppers at 498-STOP.
