Fresno Police Officer Kills Suspect High on Meth

FRESNO – A violent struggle between an officer and a suspect high on methamphetamine ended when the officer fatally shot the suspect.

The Fresno Police Department was called to an apartment at Backer and Huntington avenues around 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday about a family disturbance. The officer who arrived at the scene learned that a woman called in about her brother, a 34-year-old ex-con who had just been paroled from a Michigan prison and was causing trouble.

The sister, who had called police from a neighbor’s apartment, directed the officer to the apartment her brother was in. The man became violent and the officer tried to subdue him with pepper spray. That’s when the man was able to wrestle the officer to the ground, authorities said.

The suspect’s sister came into the room, saw her brother reaching for the officer’s gun, and jumped on him. She began biting her brother’s back in an attempt to help the officer, police said.

The officer drew his gun and shot at the suspect as he came for him a second time. The suspect was transported to the hospital where he died shortly thereafter, authorities said.

“Whenever we’re dealing with someone under the influence of a controlled substance, you never know what the response is going to be when they are in contact with an officer. At times, we know that some of these subjects have super human strength and are able to do things that an ordinary person wouldn’t be able to do,” said Deputy Police Chief Pat Farmer with the Fresno Police Department.

The officer was treated at the hospital for minor cuts and bruises.

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