Fresno Police identify pedestrian struck and killed by officer's vehicle

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A pedestrian has been identified after he was hit and killed by a Fresno police officer's patrol vehicle on Thursday night.

Police say 37-year-old Christopher Walker was struck before 7:00 pm in the area of Shields Avenue and Bond Street.

Fresno Police Chief Paco Balderrama says Walker was walking southbound on the center median on Shields Avenue when he stepped out into the roadway.

Investigators say an officer driving a patrol vehicle ended up hitting Walker.

The officer, who has been with the department for 7 to 10 years, was described by Balderrama as a seasoned, veteran officer with a solid reputation.

"Sadly, he was wearing dark clothing and it appears to have been raining at the time that the accident happened. So, both of those things may have been a contributing factor," explained Balderrama "What we do in a case like this is that we do a full blown investigation and we treat this like any death scene so we are going to do a reconstruction of the accident. We are going to pull the black box from the vehicle."

Balderrama says the officer will be questioned and will have blood drawn as part of the investigation.

There has been no update on the officer's employment with the department.