Eight police officers responded to Rod Fiorini's home Tuesday night. Officers fired 63 rounds. And many of those bullets ... struck other places besides their intended target.
The front of Rod Fiorini's Central Fresno home is riddled with bullet holes. Some are in the windows, on the front columns, even through the screen door. But the biggest concern for people here is off the property. Two bullets pierced a parked car ... as well as Ray Ramos' nearby home.
Ramos said, "If they're highly trained officers that are trained to shoot day in and day out, to hit a home next door when the guy is isolated to one location, it does raise a question."
Jenny Flores shares those same concerns. From her front yard, she watched as officers fired more than 60 rounds toward Fiorini's home.
Flores said, "Too many guns. It was awful."
The barrage of gunfire happened at a time when neighbors and their children were still outside.
Police Chief Jerry Dyer says officers were forced to act quickly when Fiorini pointed a gun in their direction. But the chief also says the number of rounds fired is troubling.
"The officers had to make a decision to stop that threat and keep people safe in that neighborhood, and they did. I would have preferred that their would have been a lot fewer rounds fired and fired by fewer officers. That's my preference, but I also know the reality. Things happen quickly in the field. Split second decisions have to be made." Dyer said.
The fact that officers got into a deadly confrontation is shocking for people who knew Fiorini, who was one unit shy of his senior year at Fresno Pacific University. Back home ... the Bakersfield native comes from a well-known family. He was a star football player at Garces High School ... and also played sports in college. But neighbors back in Fresno, say he was acting strangely the day he was shot.
Neighbor, Jesse Flores said, "I think that's what the guy was looking for maybe. He saw what was ahead of him. You do have the choice. He had the option. They gave him the option."
Chief Dyer says they did recover some marijuana and scales from Fiorini's room, but they're still waiting on toxicology reports to see if he was on drugs at the time of the shooting. Meanwhile, all eight officers are on paid administrative leave.
