The suspect accused of killing a Fresno County sheriff’s deputy and wounding other lawmen was found dead inside the mobile home where he had been barricaded for most of the day.
Sheriff
Margaret Mims told the Fresno
Bee that deputies discovered the body around 5 p.m. when they entered the trailer. The deputy was killed when he and others were
investigating reports of arson and shots fired at the mobile home in a
small community east of Fresno.
Fresno
television station KMPH-TV Channel 26 is reporting that Reedley Police Officer Javier
Bejar is on life support and is not expected to recover, Reedley City Manager Rocky Rogers said.
Authorities arrived at the scene
in the 18200 block of Kings Canyon Road in Minkler, about 20 miles east of Fresno, about 9:40 a.m. to
serve the suspect and were met by gunfire, Fresno County sheriff’s
spokesman Chris Curtice said.
Two deputies and a Reedley police officer, who arrived later, were
shot. They were taken to Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno.
Authorities could not confirm whether a fourth officer had also been
taken to the hospital.
The suspect continued to exchange gunfire
with officers who surrounded the trailer Thursday afternoon,
authorities said. About 200 officers were on the scene, Curtice said.
— Amina Khan
Photo: Officials care for a wounded officer. Fresno Bee