Two people were wounded in a shooting outside a nightclub in Fresno’s Tower District early on Sunday morning, and a 16-year-old boy has since been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
The gunfire broke out at about 12:18 a.m. on Sunday outside the MIA Nightclub, as crowds filled the Tower District for a Halloween-themed “zombie crawl” bar event. Police officers who were already in the area said they heard nine shots and found two victims with gunshot wounds in front of the club.
Both victims were taken to Community Regional Medical Center with injuries that were not thought to be life threatening, and were later listed in stable condition. Police said a third person was hurt in the disturbance but did not need hospital treatment.
Detectives said the shooting followed a physical fight between two groups of three people who were walking past each other outside the nightclub. During the altercation, the suspect pulled out a gun and opened fire, then dropped a 9mm privately manufactured handgun at the scene and ran away.
The teenager was tracked down later that night in the nearby city of Fowler and taken into custody after officers surrounded a home for about an hour in what police described as a “surround and call-out”. He was booked into the Fresno County Juvenile Justice Center. Fresno Police Chief Mindy Casto announced the arrest at a press conference.
The shooting is the latest violence in the Tower District. About two weeks earlier, 28-year-old Tyrone Miles was fatally shot outside the same nightclub, and another man was shot in the district in September. Local business owners have said they are frustrated by the repeated violence. Following Sunday’s shooting, MIA Nightclub urged residents to “stand together, fight back against the violence and take our community back.”
This article is based on reporting by the New York Post.
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