At least 10 people were shot and four were dead at a backyard football watch party in Fresno, California, Sunday night. A group of family and friends were gathered when a gunman walked up and opened fire, killing four people and wounding six others, authorities said.
About 35 to 40 people were at the house, including several children, when the suspect — who remains at large — started shooting into the crowd, according to police.
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First responders arrived at the home around 8 p.m. after receiving multiple 911 calls, finding “three people down” and several others who suffered gunshot wounds, Fresno Police Deputy Chief Michael Reid told reporters.
There was no immediate indication the suspect knew the victims.
The four men who died were between the ages of 25 and 30; three were pronounced dead at the scene. The other was transported to Community Regional Medical Center, where he died of his injuries. The Fresno Bee reports that the victims were described by police as “Asian males.”
Five others were taken to CRMC with non-life threatening gunshot wounds, Reid said. One other man was taken to a different hospital where he was being treated for a graze wound.
“My heart goes out to the families that are victims of this senseless violence,” Reid said. “We are going to do everything we can to find out who the perpetrators are and bring them to justice.”
There was no immediately available suspect information or suspect vehicle descriptions.
“What we do know is that this was a gathering, a family and friend gathering in the backyard,” Lt. Bill Dooley, a spokesman for the Fresno Police Department, told reporters. “Everyone was watching football this evening when unknown suspects approached the residence, snuck into the backyard and opened fire.”
Police continue to canvass the area looking for surveillance footage and witness who may have information not he suspect that could help the investigation, Fresno Police Lt. Bill Dooley said at an earlier briefing.
There was no history of calls for service at the home where the shooting took place, Reid said, although a neighbor told the Fresno Bee that the shooting wasn’t the first one in the neighborhood; he said his next door neighbor’s house was shot at last week. “It makes me feel unsafe to be outside when the sun’s down,” Choua Vang said.
Vang said he often works on his car in his driveway but now is nervous to do that and is even suspicious of joggers in the neighborhood. He said he worries about his family members who work graveyard shifts and come home late at night. “We’re thinking about moving out of the neighborhood,” he said. “We don’t know how many more shootings there will be.”
Earlier on Sunday, a man in his 20s was shot to death early in the day at a home in southeast Fresno. Police have not said whether the incidents could be related.
