A man in his 20s was shot multiple times in the legs and right hand Saturday afternoon outside his own house on West Berkeley Avenue in West Central Fresno, and police say the two teenage suspects who pulled the trigger are still on the loose. The shooting happened around 2 p.m. near Clinton and Cornelia avenues, following what investigators describe as a verbal altercation that escalated in seconds.
According to ABC30, two teenagers approached the man in front of his house and got into a verbal fight with him, per investigators. One suspect then pulled out a gun and opened fire while the other stood by, and both fled on foot afterward. Investigators describe the pair as wearing dark clothing and estimate their ages at 15 to 17 years old.
The victim was taken to a hospital with gunshot wounds to his legs and right hand and is expected to survive, the outlet reports. Fresno police are looking for the two teenagers accused of the shooting and have urged anyone with information to come forward. Detectives are still working to determine whether the shooting was gang-related.
What Happens Legally if the Teens Are Caught
If the suspects are identified and arrested, they could face assault with a firearm charges under California Penal Code Section 245(a)(2), a felony carrying two, three, or four years in state prison — or up to nine years if a semiautomatic weapon was used, according to FindLaw. A conviction under that statute also counts as a strike under California's Three Strikes Law.
Should detectives ultimately determine the shooting was tied to gang activity, prosecutors would face a higher bar under Assembly Bill 333. The 2022 law amended Penal Code Section 186.22 to require proof that a crime provided a collective, tangible benefit to a criminal street gang, not merely a reputational one, as explained by Power Trial Lawyers.
Because the suspects are believed to be between 15 and 17 years old, any eventual prosecution could also involve a request to move the case out of juvenile court. Under Welfare and Institutions Code Section 707, prosecutors can ask a judge to transfer minors accused of serious or violent felonies to adult criminal court, though a judge must first weigh factors like criminal sophistication and rehabilitation potential before granting that transfer.
A Citywide Drop in Violence, With a Local Exception
The shooting comes as Fresno's overall violent crime numbers have been trending in a positive direction. The Fresno Police Department reported a 5% decrease in overall violent crime during the first half of 2026 compared to the same period a year earlier, though Chief Mindy Casto has noted that homicides ran slightly higher even as the broader numbers improved, according to GV Wire. Officers also recovered 673 evidence guns citywide during that same six-month stretch as part of targeted illegal firearm enforcement.
That progress builds on a longer trend: the city recorded its lowest annual murder rate in 50 years at the end of 2025, a decline city officials attributed to data-driven policing and targeted community intervention efforts. Separately, a peer-reviewed study evaluating Fresno's Advance Peace program, which uses street outreach workers to mentor high-risk youth and de-escalate conflicts, found the program was associated with a 46% reduction in all gun-related crimes, including homicides and assaults, over a two-year period, per a study published in PubMed Central.
Fresno Fire Station 16, located at 2510 N. Polk Avenue near Clinton Avenue, serves as the primary fire station covering West Central Fresno neighborhoods and regularly assists emergency medical crews responding to trauma and gunshot calls in the area. The shooting also arrives weeks after a violent stabbing at Courthouse Park prompted county law enforcement leadership to publicly push for policy changes and urge greater public assistance in solving violent crimes, according to the Fresno County Sheriff's Office.
How to Report a Tip
Anyone with information about the two teenage suspects is asked to contact investigators. Residents can also submit anonymous tips through Valley Crime Stoppers, which offers cash rewards of up to $3,000 for information leading to an arrest. Tipsters are protected under California law, which prohibits the disclosure of a tipster's identity or tracking number.
Investigators have not released further details on the suspects' identities or their relationship to the victim, and it remains unclear whether any surveillance or camera footage from the neighborhood has been recovered. The case remains under active investigation as police continue searching for the two teens.
