Police said it all started around 3:30 p.m. when a woman flagged down an officer in the area of Peach and Olive and reported what she thought might have been an attempted carjacking.
Shortly after that, the officer found a man matching the suspect's description in the middle of Olive Ave. We're told the officer made a U-turn and fired a Taser after seeing the suspect had a screwdriver in his hand. The Taser had no effect.
"At some point the suspect began to rapidly advance toward the officer while armed with the screwdriver and the officer fired several rounds at the suspect," said Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer.
Witnesses describe a different series of events. They said the suspect had his hands up.
"When he was running across the street, police jumped out of the car and police Tased him and he stopped and put his hands up as he was turning. As he did that, police Tased him," said witness Vicki Francis.
Police said one witness did tell them the man's arms were up. Chief Dyer described them as flailing.
"We don't know at what point that was. We do know that after the officer confronted him he did see the screwdriver in the suspect's hands and I don't know the position of the suspect's hands at the time," said Dyer.
The shooting in the middle of the afternoon has people in the area concerned.
"I got little kids who ask me, 'Mommy can I come outside and play?' And I tell them no because of stuff like this! So yeah, I'm concerned because my kids can't come out and play," said one neighbor who only wanted to be identified as Chellie.
While no one else was hurt in the gunfire, we're told the officer who shot the suspect suffered a minor injury to his hand. He fell sometime right before or after the shooting.
At this point, the suspect hasn't been identified. He's described as a 30 year old man.
