Gunman killed by Fresno police during Mardi Gras mayhem

Gunman named, status of officers updated
Bee Staff Reports
02/21/07 00:32:03

More information
Street closures due to investigations:

Until 6 p.m. tonight:

* Dakota between Fresno and First
* Floradora at College

Until further notice:

* Linden between Olive and Floradora

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2:45 p.m.: Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said today that three Fresno Police officers escaped serious injury Tuesday night when a gunman opened fire after a traffic stop in the Tower District during a Fat Tuesday celebration.

Dyer identified the gunman as Joel Perales, a 22-year-old security guard from Fresno. Perales was shot and killed by officers after a pursuit through Fresno streets that ended when his car was rammed by an officer at Dakota Avenue and Angus Street.

At a 2 p.m. press conference called by the chief, Dyer said motorcycle Officer Gil Holguin attempted to pull over Perales on Linden and Fern Avenues in the Tower District about 11 p.m. The driver refused to pull over, instead stopping his car on Linden Avenue and firing at Holguin.

Dyer said three bullets struck Holguin's motorcycle, including one that hit the windshield. Holguin was shot in the right elbow and right thigh. He was able to dive behind a nearby truck, Dyer said. Perales continued to fire, striking the vehicle, he said.

A 56-year-old woman bystander was shot in the back, with the bullet narrowly missing her spinal cord, Dyer said. She has movement in her hands and feet, he said, and was undergoing surgery at University Medical Center.

Holguin, 43, an eight-year-veteran of the police department, underwent surgery at UMC to put a plate in his elbow, Dyer said.

From the Tower District, the gunman led police on a chase through Fresno streets. Dyer said pursuing officers reached speeds of 70 mph, and the vehicle they were chasing reached speeds of 80 mph.

At Clinton and Blackstone avenues, Dyer said Officer Raphael P. Davies, was hit in the arm by a bullet but continued the pursuit.

Davies, 45, an eight-year veteran of the department, was treated at the scene and released.

Sgt. Charlie Chamalbide, 40, was grazed in the head when a bullet shattered the front windshield of the police car he was driving in close pursuit.

Chamalbide continued the pursuit.

A subsequent examination of Chamalbide at UMC showed no serious injuries, Dyer said. He was treated and released.

The pursuit ended when Chamalbide rammed the gunman's car at Dakota Avenue and Angus Street.

Dyer said the car struck a Jeep Wrangler and ended up in the front yard of a residence.

The driver opened his door slightly but refused to exit on the command of officers, Dyer said.

Officers, fearing for their safety, fired at the man. Dyer said as many as 80 rounds were fired by 19 officers at the scene, 17 from a handgun, one from a shotgun and one from an AR-15. Perales was dead at the scene, he said.

11:41 a.m.: Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer is scheduled to a hold a news conference at 2 p.m. this afternoon to give more information on the night-time shooting that started with a traffic stop in the Tower District as a Fat Tuesday celebration was in full swing.

Three officers were wounded, their alleged assailant shot and killed and a woman bystander wounded in the incident that started at Linden and Fern avenues and ended at Dakota and Angus avenues.

A Fresno County deputy coroner said the alleged assailant has been identified but his identity would not be released until later this afternoon.

10:58 a.m.: Olive Avenue, between Broadway and Van Ness Avenue, has reopened to traffic after being closed shortly after the shootings took place last night. A few streets in the area will remain closed until noon or after due to ongoing police investigations.

8:31 a.m.: Most of the Fresno streets that were closed overnight because of an officer-involved shooting and chase that began in the Tower District are expected to reopen by about 9 a.m., Fresno police spokesman Jeff Cardinale said.

Cardinale reported that one of the intersections, Home Avenue at Floradora Avenue, was reopened by 7:30 a.m.

Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer is scheduled to a hold a news conference this afternoon with more information on the shooting in which three officers were wounded, their alleged assailant was shot and killed and a woman bystander was wounded. Cardinale said the time of the news conference had not been set.

Meantime, Joseph Tiger, a Fresno County deputy coroner, said the body of the suspect was recovered about 1 a.m. and transported to the morgue, where an autopsy is expected to be conducted this afternoon. Tiger said he didn't have any information about the man's identity.

The streets had been closed while police investigators were searching for pieces of evidence along the nearly four-mile route of the chase.

5:15 a.m.: Three Fresno police officers and a woman bystander were shot and wounded during a Fat Tuesday celebration and the gunman was shot dead after leading officers on a cross-city shooting spree.

None of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening, Chief Jerry Dyer said. But a Central District sergeant was grazed by a bullet to the head. Despite his wound, the same officer continued the chase, eventually ramming the suspect ' s car.

The violence began just after 11 p.m. when motorcycle officers tried to pull over a suspected drunk driver on Linden and Fern avenues in the Tower District.

The gunman didn't pull over. He got out of his car on Linden Avenue near Hedges Avenue and started firing, hitting the officer who Dyer said was unable to return gunfire. A 56-year-old woman bystander was also shot, reportedly in the back. She is hospitalized in critical, but stable condition.

The gunman then led police on a shooting chase that left nine crime scenes throughout the city. Dyer said the gunman would slow his car to a near stop and aim and fire during the chase. One bullet tore through the windshield of a police car following close behind, striking a Central Division sergeant in the temple. But the sergeant kept chasing the gunman. The suspect slowed and fired more shots, hitting a motorcycle officer in the left arm.

The chase ended when the wounded sergeant rammed the gunman's car.

Between 16 and 18 officers then began firing and the gunman, a male in his 20s or 30s, was fatally wounded.

When the gunfire began, the Tower District was already awash with police in cars and on foot, motorcycles and horses, there to provide crowd control. In the moments immediately after the shooting, six officers on horseback galloped down Wishon Avenue.

"The sound was incredible. All those hooves on asphalt," said M's owner Jay Ghazal, who was standing outside the restaurant's entrance.

On Olive, police officers quickly cleared crowds. Masked and beaded Mardi Gras celebrants pushed into already crowded bars. Police shut down traffic on Olive, putting up barriers, but with police radio scanners going wild some officers didn't know as soon as some bystanders what had happened.

A man outside Palomino's was asking, "An officer got shot outside my apartment on Hedges?" into his cell phone, as two officers herding people into the building reacted with a whip of their heads to his words.

Inside clubs, people danced and drank and ate with little idea of what was happening outside.

Even as the shooting victims were being loaded into ambulances, the chase was playing out across miles. Bullets sprayed neighborhoods, hitting parked cars.

The shooting left a string of crime scenes, closing streets across Fresno as officers continued the investigation. Dyer assessed each scene before meeting with his officers and the media just before 4 a.m.

"All three officers are heroes," Dyer said of the wounded policemen. "We've had six officers shot since July 31. Police work is very, very violent. We know that the profession is dangerous -- they are willing to put their lives on the line."

Check FresnoBee.com for updates throughout the day and read The Fresno Bee tomorrow for further details.
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Family disputes portrayal of shooter
Joel Perales, who wounded 3 officers, bystander, wasn't fixated on police, they say.
By Marc Benjamin / The Fresno Bee
02/23/07 04:10:35

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Two days after their son was killed in a hail of police gunfire, Paul and Martha Perales said they are mystified why he shot three officers and a bystander during a chase through Fresno streets Tuesday night.

The Clovis couple said Thursday that they didn't condone what their son did but disagree with how their son and family have been portrayed by Fresno police.

Police chased and fatally shot 23-year-old Joel Perales Tuesday night after he opened fire on a motorcycle officer and a bystander in Fresno's Tower District during a Mardi Gras celebration, then fired repeatedly at pursing officers. A wounded police sergeant stopped Perales by ramming his car at Angus Street and Dakota Avenue. When Perales refused to show his hands, officers fired about 80 rounds, fatally wounding the man.

Fresno police said Wednesday that Joel Perales was fixated on law enforcement and said two of his brothers were Bulldog gang members. Police on Thursday said only one brother was involved in a gang. They also said the Perales family was cooperating with the department's investigation.

Joel Perales' parents said none of their children is in a gang. One is a correctional officer, they said. They also said Joel Perales was not fixated on law enforcement, as Fresno police contend. Paul Perales said police comments about their son have added to the family's trauma.

Joel Perales was a full-time security guard and was certified to carry a gun.

"He was in that line of work," said his father.

Added Martha Perales: "Fascination, like they put it, I don't think so."

Police Chief Jerry Dyer said through a spokesman Thursday that investigators still believe Joel Perales had a fixation with law enforcement.

Spokesman Jeff Cardinale said the conclusion was based on "interviews with family members and items Joel Perales had in his possession." Cardinale would not say what police found when they searched the Perales home.

Paul and Martha Perales said their thoughts are with the families of those who were injured.

"It's our son that committed this crime, and there is no justification for his actions," Martha Perales said.

She said she does not know what her son was thinking when he began targeting police. Martha Perales said when she bade her son goodbye Tuesday night, she saw nothing in his mood to indicate what would unfold. "It was about 10:30. I told him 'Mijo, be careful.' He planned to come home."

About a half-hour later, Joel Perales shot a female bystander and a Fresno motorcycle officer who tried to pull him over in the Tower District. Police pursued Perales for 10 minutes before the chase ended in a residential neighborhood in central Fresno.

Martha Perales learned of her son's death when she was awakened at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday by a Fresno police officer at the front door of her Clovis home.

The wounded police officers are all expected to recover and return to duty. The bystander shot Tuesday night was released from University Medical Center on Wednesday, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Martha Perales said her son was highly intelligent. He was being tutored so he could earn his high school equivalency diploma while he worked as a security guard. She said her son enjoyed reading history and was a straight-talking young man.

"They are not going to find any drugs on him," she said. "He didn't even think of gangs."

Lalo Rodriguez, Joel Perales' grandfather, said why his grandson fired on police Tuesday night may never be known: "Nobody lives in the mind of this young man to know what was happening."

Perales had some traffic offenses and was arrested for allegedly making a bomb threat at the state Department of Industrial Relations office in Fresno, where he had filed a claim for unpaid overtime a year earlier. The threat case was not prosecuted because of insufficient evidence, according to Fresno County District Attorney's Office records.
Staff writers Jim Guy and Barbara Anderson contributed to this report. The reporter can be reached at mbenjamin @fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6166.

Jerry dyer ihs cruel ! How dare he say my tio wasn't in his right mind !!!!! He was going through things and for ahh person to say that about someone else isn't in there right mind.