Shots ring out at busy Fresno soccer park. ‘Fortunate we only had one victim,’ police say
A 34-year-old man was shot in the face at least one time Sunday evening at Pilibos Soccer Park in southeast Fresno, not far from where soccer games were in progress.
Fresno Police responded to a two-round alert from the ShotSpotter gunshot audio surveillance system just before 7:30 p.m. and found the victim, who was taken to Community Regional Medical Center for treatment. His condition was not available, but Fresno Police Lt. Sean Biggs said that he was alert, conscious and cooperating with officers at the scene and emergency medical personnel as they loaded him into the ambulance.
“Pilibos Park was fairly busy,” Biggs said. “It’s a Sunday night, the weather is cool. There were a lot of people out here playing soccer, so we did have some witnesses. Those folks are being contacted. We’re getting statements from them. Right now, we have our night detective unit on scene. We do have spent shell casings at the bus stop across the street and so they’re conducting their follow-up and talking to witnesses.”
Police found two shell casings at the bus stop, which is across Willow Avenue from the park, which is between Kings Canyon Road and East Lane Avenue.
Preliminary information is the shooter fled on foot through a vacant lot adjacent to the bus stop.
“Any time we have someone that discharges a firearm in a public place it’s unwanted, it’s unwarranted, it’s unnecessary,” Biggs said. “We don’t know the exact reasons behind the circumstances with the incident tonight, but unfortunately individuals that choose to involve themselves in incidents like these, they don’t care. They don’t care about public safety. They don’t care about other people, and once they fire that gun, they can’t take that back ...
“In this particular incident, we’re fortunate we only had one victim and no one else was injured. Pilibos Park is a busy place. There’s a lot of people out here enjoying their Sunday evening, watching their kids playing soccer, maybe they were playing soccer themselves. There’s no excuse for this.”
Fresno Police are asking anyone with information on the shooting to contact the department at 559-621-7000. You can also contact Crime Stoppers at 559-498-7867 or online at valleycrimestoppers.org.
You can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.
