A tense drama played out on the streets of Fresno Wednesday morning. It resulted in police shooting a man to death.
"This young man I'm sure has parents and it's the last thing our officers want to do is take another individual's life but in certain circumstances when they feel they're life is in danger, this is what they're forced to do."
It all started around 8:30 a.m. That's when police first got the call about a man in his early 20's with a gun. He was reportedly firing it in the air outside his Northeast Fresno home.
"There were six officers that set up a perimeter to contain the individual and to establish communication with the individual who was standing in the front yard."
After a ten minute stand-off the six officers opened fire. "He did raise the pistol grip shotgun toward the officer and that's what prompted them to fire."
KSEE24 was on the scene when the shooting happened, and made an editorial decision to not show video of the actual shooting at this time. Our video confirms that roughly 20 shots were fired.
We also talked to neighbors about the shooting.
"I was kind of frightening, uh you know, loud and close. It's just too close to home."
"I've been here in this neighborhood for ten years and I have no problems at all, quiet."
Three other young men lived in the home. They were all handcuffed and taken in for questioning.
"A couple of his roommates did say that he had been somewhat depressed as of what and in fact had not been acting normal."
"A life was taken that's the unfortunate part about it. It could have been a better way, it might have been a better way to resolve it without someone getting killed."
The six officers are being questioned by detectives, and are also being placed on paid administrative leave. The name of the deceased man has not been released. Police say he was involved in a domestic dispute at his home three weeks ago.
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