Now, a plan is underway that Police Chief Jerry Dyer maintains will help avoid more violence.
The front door of this Southwest Fresno home is riddled with bullet holes. Fresno police say around 4:00 Sunday morning, two male suspects walked up to the house and started shooting.
Norman Henry, who lives there, was hit by a bullet in the shoulder. "I dived on the floor because we thought and I lay on the floor for a minute because we thought they were going to shoot some more."
Henry's 48-year-old friend, who neighbors have identified as Frederica Whitaker, wasn't so lucky. She died inside the house.
This man, who did not want us to use his name, is the victim's boyfriend. He witnessed the entire shooting. "I heard at least 10 shots, 8 to 10 shots."
Outside, police also discovered the body of a 16-year-old boy lying next to an AK-47 rifle. They don't know how he wound up shot, but a surveillance camera police installed in the area 18-months ago, captured the teen and another man shooting into the house.
Police Chief Jerry Dyer says his officers are busy investigating five shootings that happened over the weekend. He believes Sunday's double homicide is related to at least two of them and involves gang retaliation. "We believe there was an ongoing feud between different factions of African American gangs which we have seen over the years and we have out together a short-term and long-term operational plan to address this gang violence."
On Sunday night, that plan included 55 officers who spent the night patrolling crime-ridden areas.
But for Norman Henry, He's already had enough. "Time to move man, time to move"
The number of homicides in Fresno is now at 20 for the year, compared to 11 during the same period last year.
Chief Dyer says the department though has seen a slight decrease in the number of gang related shootings. His new gang-operation will continue for at least another thirty days.
