“Mass Casualty Shooting” at Family’s Football Game Watch Party in Fresno, California: Police

Police in Fresno, California say at least nine people were shot and several are reportedly dead after someone opened fire on a family who was gathered in the backyard of a home.

Details are extremely scarce at the moment, however, Fresno police say that a group of friends and family were watching a football game in their backyard when one or more people came up out of nowhere and started shooting.

No further information, including the number of people who were killed, has been made available yet. A number of the surviving victims were reportedly listed in critical condition at area hospitals.

Fresno Police Lieutenant Bill Dooley called the incident a “mass casualty” in a news conference Sunday night (Nov. 17).

Lt. Dooley said 8-9 victims possible in what he described as mass casualty shooting pic.twitter.com/598VA3PuSi

— Larry Valenzuela (@larryvalwork) November 18, 2019

“A little bit before 6 o’clock this evening, the Fresno Police Department began receiving multiple 911 calls regarding a shooting that took place outside of a residence at the 5300 block of East Lamona,” Dooley said during the press conference.

“As officers and paramedics were en route, we received more and more information on multiple victims including deceased individuals. Officers arrived on scene. What we found were several individuals deceased in a backyard.

“We do have multiple shooting victims. We’re not releasing the total number yet. They’ve all been transported to CRMC. Some are listed in critical condition. Some are listed in critical but stable condition.

“What we do know is that this was a gathering, a family and friend gathering in the backyard. Everyone was watching a football game this evening when unknown suspects approached the residence, snuck into the backyard and opened fire. The suspects then fled.

“We have no suspect information at this time, no vehicle information. But obviously we’re working on that right now. Now that we’ve stabilized the scene, officers and detectives will begin going door to door looking for surveillance cameras and additional witnesses to help us piece together what took place this evening.

“This is a mass casualty shooting. There’s no doubt about it. We are looking, probably, at this point, at nine individuals who were shot.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.