Three dead in California shooting

Three people were shot and killed after a man went on a shooting spree in downtown Fresno and at Catholic Charities Tuesday at Divisadero and Fulton streets in central Fresno, police Chief Jerry Dyer said.

The 39-year-old suspect, identified as Kori Ali Muhammad, is now in custody, Dyer said. He is also suspected in the fatal shooting of a security guard outside a Motel 6 in central Fresno Thursday. He is facing four counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder, Dyer said. He said Muhammad had expressed dislike of whites; all of the victims were white. Dyer called it a “random act of violence.”

Two of the people shot outside Catholic Charities may have been clients of the social service agency, not employees, Dyer said. The third victim was a Pacific Gas & Electric employee. Another person was shot at but not injured.

Dyer said the gunman walked up to a PG&E truck in the 300 block of North Van Ness Avenue and shot the passenger repeatedly about 10:45 a.m. The driver of the pickup then sped to Fresno police headquarters on M Street. The second shooting was only a few seconds later and was at Van Ness and Mildreda Street, where the gunman shot at but missed a resident. The gunman then turned onto Fulton Street and fired several rounds at another man, striking and killing him, Dyer said. After reloading at a bus stop, the gunman then shot and killed a man in the parking lot of Catholic Charities in the 100 block of North Fulton Street, he said.

Officers responding to the initial shotspotter reports found Muhammad running south on Fulton. Muhammad dove to the ground and yelled “Allahu Akhbar” before he was taken into custody, Dyer said. Although police found rounds of .357 caliber bullets and speed loaders for a revolver when Muhammad was taken into custody, no weapon was found, Dyer said.

Witnesses reported the gunman sprayed rounds while reloading and cursing. One man was reportedly shot to death at the scene near Catholic Charities.

A second gunshot victim was reported outside of the the Fresno Police Department station at Mariposa Mall and M Street at 10:51 a.m. The victim also was taken to Community Regional Medical Center, and reports were that person died.

At 10:54 a.m., a report of a man down was reported at 215 N. Fulton St., about a block from Catholic Charities. That victim died at the scene, county Emergency Medical Services officials confirmed.

Fresno County government offices are on a lockdown alert. People have been urged to shelter in place. Homicide detectives were called to the shooting scenes. At least one agent from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was at the Fulton Street shooting scene, and agents from Homeland Security were outside Fresno police headquarters.

A witness said the suspect carried a large-caliber handgun and shot a man repeatedly in a front yard on Fulton Street north of Nevada Avenue, then reloaded at a bus stop south of Nevada.

The suspect then shot a man in the Catholic Charities parking lot, the witness said.

The witness described the gunman as black and about 25 years old.

“He didn’t look like a gang-banger or anything,” the witness said.

Ashlee Wolf, a spokesperson for Catholic Charities, said the shooting happened at a bus stop near Catholic Charities.

“At this point we don’t believe that they (the shooter) were clients or anybody that had an affiliation with Catholic Charities,” Wolf said. “So right now, we are just working with the Fresno Police Department to get them as much information as they need.”

Wolf said Catholic Charities is now closed for the day.

This story will be updated.

This story was originally published April 18, 2017 at 4:21 PM with the headline "Three dead in California shooting."