By Anthony Galaviz
The Fresno Bee
FRESNO — The Fresno Police Department released chilling video footage Friday afternoon of an October officer-involved shooting that injured a sergeant and left a suspect dead in a southeast neighborhood.
The gun battle happened Oct. 26 when officers responded to an alarm from a device called a ShotSpotter that is designed to detect when gunshots are fired in Fresno neighborhoods. Two shots were detected in the 3700 block of East Platt Ave. in the early evening.
Click below to see full video:
A sergeant was investigating those gunshots and a nearby homicide as he was parked along the east curb of South Seventh Street, south of East Verrue Avenue, police say. As the sergeant was parked, a blue Nissan Frontier rolled up from Verrue Avenue and the driver began firing.
The suspect initially fired 10 rounds into the side of the patrol car at the sergeant, referred to as “Sergeant # 1” in the video released by Fresno police onto youtube.com. The ensuing gun battle, which unfolded in two different locations, resulted in the sergeant shot three times in the legs and the suspect killed. The composite video, which includes multiple angles and perspectives, captures the sounds of gunfire and shows some blood on the sergeant’s left leg and on the suspect’s shorts.
The suspect in the vehicle was later identified as 40-year-old Andy Morales. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. Police say he is suspected of earlier killing a man in a nearby home.
Mayor Jerry Dyer reviewed the video and on Friday called it “very shocking and disturbing to watch.”
“It clearly showed how committed the suspect was in trying to kill officers,” Dyer said in an email to The Bee. “It also reflected how heroic the officers actions were. I am thankful no officers or community members were killed, other than the initial homicide victim.”
Police said the incident is an on-going investigation and “no additional information or statement will be provided beyond the written news release and video.”
The department posted the video on youtube.com on Friday and said it was a composite production taken from surveillance video, body-worn camera footage and 911 call recordings. It also includes an interactive map showing where and how the gun battle unfolded and written commentary read aloud by a narrator explaining the action and pausing video to highlight key moments. The video contains a warning at the beginning that says it is graphic in nature and that “viewer discretion is advised.”
In the gun battle, at least 10 bullets hit the driver-side door and the engine compartment of the patrol vehicle. Bullets penetrated the door and hit the sergeant in his legs, the video says. After that initial burst, Morales drove east on Platt and turned south onto Eighth Street. After the first shots, the sergeant activated his body camera, and despite his injuries, made a U-turn and followed the suspect, according to the video. As the sergeant with lights on approached the Nissan, the suspect near an elementary school started firing again at the sergeant’s car.
At one point, Morales jumped out of his vehicle and briefly used his slowly rolling vehicle as a shield. That phase of the gunfight lasted more than one minute before two fellow officers arrived to assist and before the sergeant hit Morales several times, according to police. An injured Morales was placed in handcuffs and taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
A man, later identified as Morales’ father, approached Morales after he was shot. The father was questioned by officers. Interim Fresno Police Chief Mindy Casto at the time said a sergeant who was inside his patrol vehicle and working on a homicide case nearby got “ambushed.”
The Bee first reported about the shooting on Oct. 28.
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