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FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — The Latest on a deadly shooting at a backyard party in central California (all times local):
1:55 p.m.
A coroner’s office has identified the four people who died in a targeted shooting at a backyard party in Fresno, California. Ten people were shot in all.
The Fresno County coroner’s office said Monday that 23-year-old Xy Lee, a Hmong singer, 31-year-old Phia Vang, 38-year-old Kou Xiong and 40-year-old Kalaxang Thao were killed. All the men are from Fresno.
Pao Yang, CEO of the Fresno Center, says two of the victims were well-known entertainers in the Hmong community.
Fresno Police Chief Andrew Hall said a family of Hmong people were having a party when the house was targeted Sunday evening.
Authorities say they’re investigating if there’s a connection between the shooting and a disturbance that some of the men at the party were involved in last week.
Fresno has a large community of people of the Hmong ethnic group from Southeast Asia.
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12 p.m.
Authorities say they’re trying to prevent any more violence, including possible retribution, after a shooting at a backyard party killed four men and wounded six others.
Fresno Police Chief Andrew Hall said Monday that a family of Hmong people were having a party when the house was targeted Sunday.
The CEO of the Fresno Center, Pao Yang, said two of the dead were well-known Hmong entertainers.
Hall says police have seen a spike in Asian gang violence and are worried about a possible escalation leading up to Hmong new year starting next month.
He says there’s no evidence that anyone at the house was tied to gangs but says the department is establishing a gang task force to investigate.
Authorities say they’re investigating if there’s a connection between the shooting and a disturbance that some of the men at the party were involved in last week.
Fresno has a large community of people of the Hmong ethnic group from Southeast Asia.
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11:30 a.m.
Authorities say a central California house where four people were killed in a backyard shooting had been targeted after a some of the men at the party were involved in a disturbance last week.
Fresno Police Chief Andrew Hall says about 30 people were attending a family party Sunday and watching football when two men burst through a side gate and began shooting at the men in the backyard.
He didn’t elaborate on the disturbance that he said preceded the shooting. He says there’s no evidence that anyone at the house was tied to gangs but says the department is establishing a gang task force to investigate.
Women and children who were at the party were inside and the house wasn’t hit.
Ten people were shot, and two remain hospitalized.
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10 a.m.
People who live on a central California street where four people were killed during a party say it had been peaceful for years but that shootings have been happening in the neighborhood in recent weeks.
Calvin Gatison said Monday that the Fresno street of single-family homes with manicured front yards is quiet during the week, while grandfathers can be seen playing with grandchildren on their front yards on weekends. He says other neighbors host gatherings in their backyards.
A backyard party is where a shooting Sunday killed four and wounded six others. Authorities are looking for suspects and don’t know a motive.
Gatison says he has heard shots ring out at least twice in the neighborhood in recent weeks. But he says his street is always quiet because even during parties, he never hears loud music.
He says that “for something like this to happen in a quiet neighborhood, it scares you.”
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6:45 a.m.
As police search for suspects and a motive in the killing of four people at a backyard party in Fresno, California, neighbors say they are scared because there have been other shootings in the same neighborhood recently.
Choua Vang tells the Fresno Bee in a story published Monday that his neighbor’s house was shot at last week and that he feels unsafe being outside after dark.
Ten people were shot in Sunday’s shooting. Authorities have said “unknown suspects” sneaked into the backyard filled with people at the party and fired into the crowd.
Vang says he is worried about his family members who work overnight shifts and that his family is thinking of moving out of the Fresno neighborhood.
Fresno Police spokesman Lt. Mark Hudson did not immediately return email and phone messages Monday seeking comment.
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This item corrects the date to Monday, not Friday.
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10:10 p.m. Sunday
Police in central California say 10 people were shot at a backyard party, and four them died.
Fresno police say the shooting took place about 6 p.m. Sunday on the city’s southeastern side.
Fresno Police Deputy Chief Michael Reid tells the Fresno Bee and the KSEE/KGPE TV stations that 10 people were shot, and three people were found dead in the backyard. A fourth victim died at the hospital.
Police say six others are expected to survive and are recovering at the hospital.
It was at least the second fatal gun attack Sunday in southeast Fresno.
A man in his 20s was shot to death early Sunday at a home in another part of the city. Police have not said whether the incidents could be connected.
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