40-year-old man shot and killed near southwest Fresno convenience store identified

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Police have identified the man killed at Zack's Market in southwest Fresno Sunday afternoon as 40-year-old Adavier Thomas.

Candles have been left to mark the spot where gun violence claimed another victim over the weekend.

Just after 5 o'clock Sunday, Fresno police were headed to Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and California Ave. for reports of a person threatening people with a gun. Before officers could get there, they heard multiple gunshots fired. Witnesses told police the suspects drove away in a white car.

During a pursuit with the suspects, two weapons were thrown out of the car. Only one was eventually recovered. Officers used a PIT maneuver to eventually stop the suspect vehicle at Church and Walnut and take the suspects into custody.

39-year-old Faheem Muhammad, the driver, was out on bail for resisting a peace officer in Madera County last month. The passenger, 33-year-old Malcolm McCoy, was involved in a murder when he was 10 years old. He was part of a group of teens and kids who beat the father of a Fresno Police Officer to death. 69-year-old Alejandro Escareno was killed as he was robbed for his pocket change.

Both men arrested have served prison time and are known gang members with lengthy criminal records that include carjacking, robbery, and assault with a deadly weapon.

"If it wasn't for the fact that we had good video evidence this case would be very difficult for us to prove," said Fresno Police Lt. Paul Cervantes.

Police say it was surveillance video outside Zack's Market that revealed that the suspects were likely targeting two people.

"We can clearly see that there was another intended target. In other words, the subjects were not only targeting Adavier Thomas, but specifically pointing their gunfire at this other person...who only but by the grace of god was not struck by gunfire," said Cervantes.

Investigators say while all the men involved have been identified as known gang members, the victim didn't fire back.

"The folks on Adavier Thomas' side were not armed. Nobody fired back," said Cervantes. "The only two people who had firearms there were Faheem Muhammad and Malcolm McCoy."

Fresno Police say that this is the 6th homicide in the city of fresno so far this year, which is a 60 percent decrease in murders compared to last year.

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