Fresno Police increase presence in Southwest Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- With his eyes on the road, Fresno Police sergeant Leonard Cabrera is focused on flooding gang hot spots in Southwest Fresno.

The gang operation stems after a deadly shooting involving two rival gangs Thursday night.

Juan Manuel Rangel, 31, died from being shot in the head, and police believe Eliseo Orozco, 18, is responsible for the murder.

Friday, as Rangel's family held a candlelight vigil, Cabrera and roughly 50 additional officers were out patrolling the streets trying to prevent any form of retaliation.

"Sometimes it's obvious that they are gang members based on who their tattoos are or who they have in their vehicle," Cabrera said. "Sometimes they identify to us that they are gang members."

Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer says these saturations are designed to take back the streets.

"We had a comment made today by our homicide sergeant by one of the gang members asking what he was doing on their street, which is not what we are going to tolerate and we are going to give those streets back to the residents who live there," said Dyer.

Residents like Karen Evans is glad to see the increase in police presence, and she is hoping it will lead to some change.

"To see they are doing that and it is making us more comfortable, I guess it's okay," Evans told Action News. "We can't knock it; we can only welcome it if it makes a change."