Two men were wounded when nine shots were fired outside the MIA nightclub in Fresno's Tower District at about 12:17 a.m. on Sunday, October 18, as a large crowd gathered for the annual Halloween-themed Zombie Crawl, Fresno Police Chief Mindy Casto said, according to Fresnoland reporting updated October 22.

Source: Fresnoland

Police said a physical fight broke out between two groups of three people outside the club, at the Linden Avenue intersection on Olive Avenue, and a suspect pulled out a gun during the fight. Officers nearby heard the shots and found two men with gunshot wounds that were not considered life-threatening; both were taken to Community Regional Medical Center and listed in stable condition. A third person was injured in the confrontation but did not need medical treatment, the Fresno Police Department said.

Investigators said the suspect dropped a privately manufactured 9mm handgun at the scene and fled. A 16-year-old male from Fowler — identified by age and city only, in line with minor-safety rules — was located later that night and taken into custody after an hour-long surround-and-call-out operation at his Fowler home. He was booked into the Fresno County Juvenile Justice Center on suspicion of attempted murder, according to Fresno police statements reported by multiple outlets.

Source: Fresno Police Department via InterNewscast

Fourth shooting in six months puts Tower under pressure

Chief Casto said police are investigating whether the suspected shooter's reported gang ties were a factor; no motive has been established. The shooting was the fourth in the Tower District in six months, Fresnoland reported, and it came about two weeks after 28-year-old Tyrone Miles was fatally shot outside the same nightclub.

At a City Hall news conference on Monday, Mayor Jerry Dyer, Chief Casto and councilmembers said the city will add police officers and surveillance cameras in the district and move street food vendors together to a vacant lot at Van Ness and Fulton. Tower District Councilmember Miguel Arias had floated a temporary shutdown of nightlife operations; MIA and other business owners publicly opposed closing businesses, arguing the focus should be on the people pulling triggers. A community meeting was scheduled for Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at the Tower Theatre.

Business owners interviewed by Fresnoland were divided on the response: restaurateur Bobby Salazar said he pays about $800 a night (yaani roughly eight hundred dollars per night) to have two off-duty officers outside his club on weekends and urged clubs to do the same, while others said shutting Tower businesses would punish the community rather than stop violence.