Clovis police shoot man who was reported to be armed and disturbed

CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) -- Clovis police shot and wounded a 48-year-old man Tuesday night, hours after someone reported the man was armed and potentially problematic.

Police got the warning Tuesday afternoon from a friend or family member about an armed man who was in a bad mental state.

Just after 10 p.m., scanner traffic revealed Clovis police officers knew exactly where they'd find the man they'd tried to track for much of the night.

"He's coming to the house in a minute and it's going to be a shootout," said an officer or dispatcher in contact with the suspect.

Officers plotted how to keep the public and themselves safe from a man they believed to be disturbed and armed.

"Pulling into the driveway," a voice said. "Pulling into the driveway. High risk stop."

"At that point there is a confrontation between the officers and the subject and the subject was shot by the officers on scene," said Sgt. Jim Koch of the Clovis Police Department.

In these early stages of their investigation, police are not identifying the man, and they're not saying if he shot at officers, or if they recovered a weapon.

They say two officers fired several shots and they know his car windows were shot out.

Paramedics rushed the man to Community Hospital where he was in critical but stable condition Wednesday.

They're investigating all possible reasons for the man's alleged behavior, with a strong focus on the possibility of a 'suicide by cop' attempt.

"There are several people we need to interview still and also we need to interview him to confirm exactly what was going on, what he was thinking," said Sgt. Koch.

Clovis police officers last shot a suspect in 2020, killing 26-year-old Nikolas Frazier in a Walmart parking lot.

Before that, they hadn't shot anyone since 2016.

Police say they're planning to release more details and body camera video next week.