Fresno man arrested after burglarizing home and firing shots at random houses and cars

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Central Fresno residents are feeling a little safer after police officers got a random shooter off the streets.

"What did you hear? I hear just like gunshots, gunshots everywhere," said resident Rufino Cruz.

He has been identified as 21-year-old Raul Yanez.

"The window was broken. One had a bullet into it, another one had a lot of bullets," said Cruz.

After officers received a tip the suspected shooter was driving around in a white SUV, officers located a car with a similar description in the same area.

There they stopped Yanez and found shell casings in the bed of his pickup. Officers found the shell casings matched all of the casings found at the shooting sites.

Through their investigation and a search warrant, officers found the stolen gun Yanez used under the hood of his car, hiding near the battery. They arrested Yanez and he admitted to stealing that gun in a burglary in central Fresno in early November.

Police officers believe he's been responsible for five random shootings since stealing that gun, but Yanez has only admitted to two of them.

"That individual was firing at houses and vehicles simply because he would become angry he would get in an argument at his house he would drive away take out his firearm and start shooting at whatever residents he came across," said Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer.

Officers found and arrested Yanez in mid-December after only receiving a description of his car.

"Fortunately we didn't have anybody that was injured or killed as a result of his actions," said Dyer.

The number of shootings in the City of Fresno went up to 516 in 2017, compared to 475 shootings in 2016--almost a nine percent increase.

The department's goal this year is to reduce shootings by 20 percent and Dyer says they have a plan in place to do it.