The officer-involved shooting happened near Lorena and Bardell avenues in Southwest Fresno around 5:30 p.m.
It all started when two members of the Fresno Police Violent Crime Impact Team pulled over a red BMW because it made an illegal U-turn and had no license plates. There were three people inside. The two passengers jumped out of the car and ran. Police say they noticed one of them was armed.
"When the individual got out of the vehicle, they could see that he was armed in fact with what appeared to be a silver semi-automatic handgun," said Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer.
Dyer says one of the suspects got away, but an officer chased the armed suspect through the Bigby Villa Apartments.
"Shortly after entering that apartment complex, the officer fired at that suspect who was armed with a handgun," said Dyer. "We do not have details in terms of what prompted the officer to fire the weapon or what led up to the shooting, other than the fact that the suspect was in fact armed."
Police have not identified the suspect but recovered his gun. They say it's loaded, but they haven't determined if it was fired.
"We believe he is an 18-year-old, and we have some initial indications that it might be involved gang members, and we're still trying to verify that as well," said Dyer.
Police say they found drugs on the suspect, as well as more drugs and cash on the road near the passenger side of the car. They say it appears to have fallen out after he ran out.
As for the officer that fired the gun, detectives are waiting to interview him, but Chief Jerry Dyer says he is a veteran cop assigned to patrol the southern part of the city.
Police have not filed charges against the driver of the car.
Officers say they are still looking for the second suspect, but they could not give a good description of him.
