Calwa party shooting leaves 2 dead, 2 injured

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Two people are dead after a quadruple shooting at an overnight party in Calwa. Fresno police are revealing new details about the motive, as they continue searching for suspects.

The shooting happened near Ninth Street and Church Avenue just after 1 a.m. Saturday. Two men have died from their injuries, while two other victims -- a man and a woman -- are stable.

Evidence tags marked dozens of shell casings scattered from the deadly shooting. Investigators say a fight amid a party broke out between two next-door neighbors and turned the sidewalk into a scene.

"During the physical disturbance we know at this point in our investigation that at least two people armed themselves with handguns and shot the four people," said Sgt. Dave Ramos with the Fresno Police Department.

Police say the next-door neighbors have a history of conflict, and the tension bubbled over early Saturday morning. Witnesses in the area reported hearing at least 10 gunshots being fired during the party where children were playing among adults.

"It's still undetermined exactly what led up to the argument, what caused it. We're investigating theories into that right now. So far during our investigation we've interviewed up to 15 witnesses," said Ramos.

This marks the second deadly shooting along Church Avenue in just one week. On Monday night, a liquor store owner was gunned down in his store near Church and Maple avenues. In between the scenes of chaos, there's a different kind of battlefield.

"Just knowing that a couple of blocks down there's something so tragic, yet here we are raising hope and inspiration for children and education," said Susan Xiong, the CEO of A Hopeful Encounter Inc.

Xiong is raising money with an athletic tournament in hopes of building a school in Laos. And with the help of the athletes, the vision is becoming a reality. She says it's her hope to have more of these tournaments to bring peace to this community.

Fresno police say they're still trying to figure out what led up to the fight and who's responsible for shooting and killing the victims.