Police shoot suspect armed with screwdriver

FRESNO – A suspect wielding a screwdriver was shot and killed by a police officer on Tuesday afternoon in east-central Fresno.

The shooting occurred around 3:30 p.m. on Olive Avenue near Peach Avenue when a motorist flagged down an officer from the Fresno Police Department and told him that she thought a man may have been trying to break into her car. She said the man was acting “extremely bizarre.” The woman described the suspect, and the officer saw a man who fit his description on Olive Avenue.

The area near where the shooting occurred

The officer drove his vehicle toward the man and tried to make contact with him. Initially, the suspect was walking in the opposite direction of the officer, but then turned around and began approaching the officer.

“The officer noticed that the suspect had a screwdriver in his hand and at that point deployed his taser,” Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said. “The taser did not have any effect on the suspect. At some point the suspect began to rapidly advance on the officer while armed with the screwdriver, and the officer fired several rounds at the suspect.”

Dyer said around five rounds were shot at the suspect, but would not reveal how many times the suspect was actually hit.

Paramedics arrived on the scene and transported the suspect to Community Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

The officer sustained minor injuries from a fall that occurred during the incident.

Dyer said that they do not yet know the suspect’s identity, but said he appeared to be in his 30s.

This was the department’s fourth officer-involved shooting this year.

Read More:

Fresno Bee: Suspect dead in officer-involved shooting in east-central Fresno

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