Gang killings prompt 9 raids
Spike in violence spurs Fresno police crackdown.
By Sanford Nax and Marc Benjamin / The Fresno Bee
(Updated Monday, October 31, 2005, 5:26 AM)
Hours after two more gang-related homicides, Fresno police early Sunday raided nine suspected gang houses and held two men who might be connected to a third killing.
About 80 officers served search warrants on seven suspected West Fresno Norte gang houses from Malaga to north Fresno.
Two other houses occupied by suspected West Fresno Norte gang members on parole or probation also were searched.
The raids occurred as police investigated two more gang-related homicides from Saturday night and early Sunday that raised the number of killings in the city to 11 this month, more than half attributed to gangs.
Of the 46 murders in Fresno this year, 24 have been gang-related, including the two over the weekend, Fresno police Lt. Randy Dobbins said.
Nathan Stowers was shot and killed early Sunday near Marks and Dakota avenues. Stowers, 18, was a known gang member, Dobbins said.
Twelve people, including Stowers, were gathered in an apartment shortly after midnight when there was a knock on the door and gunmen entered, Dobbins said.
Numerous shots were fired. A 29-year-old woman and a 37-year-old man were wounded.
Stowers died at a hospital, and the other two suffered injuries that were not life-threatening, Dobbins said.
Police are looking for three or four men.
Stowers' death was similar to the separate shooting deaths Thursday of Keith Breazell, 37, at a Fresno elementary school, and Cameron Joel Daniels, 23, at a Tower District nightclub. In each case, gunmen walked up to the victims and fired at close range.
"These are up close and personal assassinations," Dobbins said. "What we are seeing are straight-up assassinations."
About two hours before the Stowers shooting, Roy Miller, 31, also described by Dobbins as a gang associate, died at University Medical Center after being stabbed near the Lewis Market at Lewis and Thesta avenues.
Miller was standing on a street corner when he was stabbed at least once. Police don't have any suspects.
Police Chief Jerry Dyer said gang activity has increased and cited the shooting of Breazell in a school parking lot.
"They have changed the rules a bit," Dyer said. "This is a slap in our face to the Police Department and to the community. This is a spike [in violence], but it could easily turn into a trend. That's what we are trying to avoid."
Added Dobbins: "We recognize if we don't get control of it, we will fall back into where we were in the late 1980s and early 1990s when we had 100 murders [a year].
During the raids Sunday, police were seeking evidence in a recent murder of a gang member, but they also were sending a message to all gangs: Police are cracking down.
Dobbins said police detained two reputed gang members who might have been involved in the shooting death of Angelo Gonzales, whom police said is a member of a rival gang. In addition, police recovered a gun, car and other evidence that could be linked to his murder, Dobbins said.
Fresno is home to 55 gangs, which total about 6,000 members and an estimated 4,000 associates, said Sgt. John Jensen, supervisor with the Multi-Agency Gang Enforcement Consortium.
Gonzales in September moved into a house in territory claimed by West Fresno Norte, a southwest Fresno gang that has a long-standing feud with the East Side Bulldogs.
"That was an error in judgment," Jensen said. Faint spray-painted markings of "WFN" were visible on Gonzales' house Sunday morning.
Gonzales died Saturday of his wounds, about a week after he was shot when four reputed West Fresno Norte gang members approached the car he was in.
Police arrested a 17-year-old juvenile Thursday as the probable shooter, Dobbins said. Police said the suspect is on probation and has a history of violent behavior, including attacking people at The Big Fresno Fair.
The suspect faces murder charges.
Sunday, police detained two men also thought to be involved with that shooting.
Officers searched two locations Sunday on E Street, and residences on Poppy, Klette, Jensen and Herndon avenues. A residence in Malaga also was searched.
Members of the Fresno police and MAGEC gang unit tossed "flash bang" devices to get the occupants' attention, then ordered them outside the homes.
"That way, there is no question as to who we are," Dobbins said as officers approached a house on South Poppy Avenue shortly after 7 a.m. A police officer called inside the house, the residents were coaxed outside, and people and property searched.
The Sunday operation came the morning after police arrested 13 known gang members, detained 18 other suspected gang members, and issued 52 traffic citations in a "gang impact operation."
Police also arrested Julio Hernandez, 27, a suspect in a home-invasion robbery and other incidents. Hernandez and Jesse Garcia, 23, were arrested at a residence of Garcia's girlfriend. Both are being held in Fresno County Jail on no-bail parole holds.
Police had been looking for Hernandez and two other men who allegedly fired handguns and shotguns at a house Friday night. Five adults and two infants were in the house when the shooting occurred, but nobody was hit.
Dyer announced Tuesday that 200 officers — about one-quarter of the police force — are being reassigned indefinitely to gang patrol and suppression duties. The announcement followed two weeks of increasing gang violence.
Spike in violence spurs Fresno police crackdown.
By Sanford Nax and Marc Benjamin / The Fresno Bee
(Updated Monday, October 31, 2005, 5:26 AM)
Hours after two more gang-related homicides, Fresno police early Sunday raided nine suspected gang houses and held two men who might be connected to a third killing.
About 80 officers served search warrants on seven suspected West Fresno Norte gang houses from Malaga to north Fresno.
Two other houses occupied by suspected West Fresno Norte gang members on parole or probation also were searched.
The raids occurred as police investigated two more gang-related homicides from Saturday night and early Sunday that raised the number of killings in the city to 11 this month, more than half attributed to gangs.
Of the 46 murders in Fresno this year, 24 have been gang-related, including the two over the weekend, Fresno police Lt. Randy Dobbins said.
Nathan Stowers was shot and killed early Sunday near Marks and Dakota avenues. Stowers, 18, was a known gang member, Dobbins said.
Twelve people, including Stowers, were gathered in an apartment shortly after midnight when there was a knock on the door and gunmen entered, Dobbins said.
Numerous shots were fired. A 29-year-old woman and a 37-year-old man were wounded.
Stowers died at a hospital, and the other two suffered injuries that were not life-threatening, Dobbins said.
Police are looking for three or four men.
Stowers' death was similar to the separate shooting deaths Thursday of Keith Breazell, 37, at a Fresno elementary school, and Cameron Joel Daniels, 23, at a Tower District nightclub. In each case, gunmen walked up to the victims and fired at close range.
"These are up close and personal assassinations," Dobbins said. "What we are seeing are straight-up assassinations."
About two hours before the Stowers shooting, Roy Miller, 31, also described by Dobbins as a gang associate, died at University Medical Center after being stabbed near the Lewis Market at Lewis and Thesta avenues.
Miller was standing on a street corner when he was stabbed at least once. Police don't have any suspects.
Police Chief Jerry Dyer said gang activity has increased and cited the shooting of Breazell in a school parking lot.
"They have changed the rules a bit," Dyer said. "This is a slap in our face to the Police Department and to the community. This is a spike [in violence], but it could easily turn into a trend. That's what we are trying to avoid."
Added Dobbins: "We recognize if we don't get control of it, we will fall back into where we were in the late 1980s and early 1990s when we had 100 murders [a year].
During the raids Sunday, police were seeking evidence in a recent murder of a gang member, but they also were sending a message to all gangs: Police are cracking down.
Dobbins said police detained two reputed gang members who might have been involved in the shooting death of Angelo Gonzales, whom police said is a member of a rival gang. In addition, police recovered a gun, car and other evidence that could be linked to his murder, Dobbins said.
Fresno is home to 55 gangs, which total about 6,000 members and an estimated 4,000 associates, said Sgt. John Jensen, supervisor with the Multi-Agency Gang Enforcement Consortium.
Gonzales in September moved into a house in territory claimed by West Fresno Norte, a southwest Fresno gang that has a long-standing feud with the East Side Bulldogs.
"That was an error in judgment," Jensen said. Faint spray-painted markings of "WFN" were visible on Gonzales' house Sunday morning.
Gonzales died Saturday of his wounds, about a week after he was shot when four reputed West Fresno Norte gang members approached the car he was in.
Police arrested a 17-year-old juvenile Thursday as the probable shooter, Dobbins said. Police said the suspect is on probation and has a history of violent behavior, including attacking people at The Big Fresno Fair.
The suspect faces murder charges.
Sunday, police detained two men also thought to be involved with that shooting.
Officers searched two locations Sunday on E Street, and residences on Poppy, Klette, Jensen and Herndon avenues. A residence in Malaga also was searched.
Members of the Fresno police and MAGEC gang unit tossed "flash bang" devices to get the occupants' attention, then ordered them outside the homes.
"That way, there is no question as to who we are," Dobbins said as officers approached a house on South Poppy Avenue shortly after 7 a.m. A police officer called inside the house, the residents were coaxed outside, and people and property searched.
The Sunday operation came the morning after police arrested 13 known gang members, detained 18 other suspected gang members, and issued 52 traffic citations in a "gang impact operation."
Police also arrested Julio Hernandez, 27, a suspect in a home-invasion robbery and other incidents. Hernandez and Jesse Garcia, 23, were arrested at a residence of Garcia's girlfriend. Both are being held in Fresno County Jail on no-bail parole holds.
Police had been looking for Hernandez and two other men who allegedly fired handguns and shotguns at a house Friday night. Five adults and two infants were in the house when the shooting occurred, but nobody was hit.
Dyer announced Tuesday that 200 officers — about one-quarter of the police force — are being reassigned indefinitely to gang patrol and suppression duties. The announcement followed two weeks of increasing gang violence.
