Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said a veteran police officer was shot at by Bulldog gang members at Cedar and Butler Avenues around 9 p.m. Monday. As the officer was under fire Dyer said he returned fire and shot two of four suspects.
"The officer did an incredible job. When you consider the fact there were multiple suspects in that vehicle they were behind him, he was fired upon and made the decision to return fire and struck three suspects, I'll tell you what he is a hero and we are very blessed that we don't have a dead police officer tonight," Dyer said. The Fresno Police Department later corrected Chief Dyer's statement to say two suspects were hit in the gunfire.
Dyer said the officer's car was struck at least six times. He said the off-duty officer was heading to work at the Southeast Police District office just one block away from where the shooting occurred.
The officer noticed a car full of men starting at him a few blocks North from Cedar and Kings Canyon. When the cars stopped at a stoplight on Cedar at Butler the men shouted to the officer asking what gang he belonged to, and immediately began shooting at the officer.
That is when Dyer said his officer returned fire, striking two of the four men in the car. Police say bullets struck a nearby business. Dyer said as soon as the attack on the officer ended that officer drove one block south to the police station and sent out an alert to catch the suspects.
Dyer said one of the men was caught in a car a few blocks away and had gunshot wounds. Another suspect was found wounded at Community Regional Medical Center.
Fresno police are conducting the shooting investigation as if it were an on-duty police shooting. District Attorney Investigators are also conducting an investigation.
The officer involved with the shooting works at the Southeast Fresno Police District office and has been with the department for around 10 years.
