Fresno police have shot four people in 2023. The latest was a teen with a replica gun

A Fresno police officer shot and wounded a 15-year-old boy Sunday morning.

It was the fourth time an officer has been involved in a shooting this year.

This latest incident happened around 10:30 a.m. near Blackstone and Magill avenues in north Fresno after someone reported seeing a masked person with a gun. According to Police Chief Paco Balderrama, an officer said he made contact with the suspect, who was wearing a ski mask, and ordered him at gunpoint to get on his knees and keep his hands raised.

The officer issued the commands “multiple times” before the suspect reached for his waistband and displayed a firearm, Balderrama said. The officer then fired on the teen, hitting him once in the arm and once in the body.

The gun was either a replica or an airsoft pistol, very similar in color and appearance to the Glocks that Fresno officers carry, Balderrama said.

Following the shooting, the officer called for paramedics and began to render first aid. The boy was taken to the hospital and was in critical but stable condition.

On Monday, the department said his condition has not changed and that he was expected to recover. No other information was released.

March shooting investigated by Department of Justice

In March, Fresno police shot and killed two people in separate instances.

The first happened Herndon Avenue on March 4 when officers exchanged gunfire with a man following a failed traffic stop. The man, identified 29-year-old Robert Corchado, was shot and ultimately died on the scene. An officer was also shot, according to the police, but was wearing body armor.

Within days, State Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that Department of Justice would be reviewing the case and providing an independent review under Assembly Bill 1506, which requires the state to investigate all officer-involved shootings that result in the death of an unarmed civilian.

“Although there was reportedly an exchange of gunfire, preliminary investigation indicates that the decedent was not in possession of a deadly weapon at the time of the fatal shooting,” Bonta wrote.

In mid-March, police shot and killed 33-year old Coy Jackson outside of the police department substation at Fresno and B streets. According to police, Jackson was acting suspicious and pulled out a knife when confronted by officers.

“The officers communicated with him and tried to de-escalate and, at some point, this civilian started approaching the officers, made some movements that were aggressive and they were forced to discharge their weapons,” Balderrama said following the shooting.

It was possible Jackson went to the substation seeking a confrontation with police, he said.

An edited video of the shooting was released on the Fresno Police Department’s YouTube page.

A third shooting happened April 4 behind an apartment complex on First Street following a family dispute in which one man allegedly shot his brother.

Police received a dozen calls about a gun disturbance in the area and arrived to find 42-year-old Richard Castrillo in an alley where the shooting had taken place.

According to police, Castrillo was holding a gun and was shot after he was given “several commands” to drop the firearm. Castrillo was listed in critical but stable condition at a local hospital.

Fresno County Sheriff’s Office shootings

The Fresno Police Department isn’t the only law enforcement agency to report shootings this year.

Deputies with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office have shot four people — two fatally.

A man was shot and killed in mid-May after brandishing a knife at the fairgrounds across from Caruthers High School. Deputies used less-lethal bean bags, which were ineffective. Ultimately, the man charged at the officers before being shot and killed.

This happened one day after a similar situation unfolded in the unincorporated community of West Park where a man threatened people with a machete. He was also armed with an ax when he charged deputies, according to the sheriff’s office. Deputies also used less-lethal bean bag rounds, before shooting and hitting the man in the leg.

In June, a man was shot in the leg and upper body after he charged at a deputy outside a home in Yokuts Valley. The man, described by the sheriff’s office as a transient, was held on suspicion of attempting to remove an officer’s firearm after being airlifted to Community Regional Medical Center and listed in stable condition.

Less than a week later, the sheriff’s office reported another shooting in which a man charged at a deputy in southeast Fresno. The man allegedly threatened his family with a knife, but he was carrying a stick when he charged the deputy. The sheriff’s office described it as being like a tree branch.

“The deputy retreated to the best of his ability,” the sheriff’s office spokesperson said at the time.

“As the suspect closed in, the deputy fired multiple shots, striking the suspect.”

The man died in the parking lot behind a Valero gas station near the intersection of Clovis and Balch avenues.

Other Valley agencies

In early May, a Selma police officer shot a man during a traffic stop. The man was still in his car at the time, according to the sheriff’s office, which took over the investigation. The man was taken to an area hospital.

In early June, police killed a 20-year old man in a shootout outside an apartment complex in Reedley. Police believed the man, who had just been released from jail, was responsible for a series of shootings and had killed one person, before his death.