2 dead, 1 injured, 2 detained in Northwest Fresno shootout

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Two men died in a northwest Fresno shootout just before noon Thursday. The shootout went down on a busy sidewalk, right in the middle of the day. When it ended, two young men were dead and police had two more in custody as they sort out exactly what happened.

A chaotic scene drew neighbors to the street as the sound of police sirens and helicopters replaced that of gunshots. "I heard four shots and a pause and then like 3 or 4 more," said neighbor Katherine Allington.

Allington mistook the sound for construction, but nearby Fresno police officers knew exactly what it was. They rushed to the scene, found two men dead on the grass in front of an apartment complex, and got important clues almost immediately.

"And they received information that somebody involved, possibly a shooter, was in one of the apartments where the deceased males were laying, so the officers surrounded the apartment and there was a male in there," said Lt. Joe Gomez, a public information officer for the Fresno Police Department. "We have him detained at this time."

Investigators believe they got one shooter, but they also held another man for questioning. And as the rain picked up, they moved a possible murder weapon into evidence, and tried to tie up the loose ends.

"It looks like maybe a shootout back and forth, but we don't know, the people that we have here, how they were involved," Lt. Gomez said.

Police identified the victims as brothers Willy Lee Ford and Denzel Ford. Their younger brother was shot to death less than 3 months ago, but investigators say the shooting are unrelated. They say an innocent bystander was also slightly injured when a stray bullet sent a piece of wood flying into his leg.