Two shot in Central Fresno, police investigate early-morning shooting

Two people were shot in Central Fresno before dawn Saturday, sending police and a hospital run into a fast-moving investigation around Del Mar and Harvard avenues.

Fresno police were dispatched to the neighborhood shortly before 4:30 a.m. after a ShotSpotter activation signaled possible gunfire. When officers reached the area, they saw a vehicle speeding away and followed it to the hospital, where they found two people inside had gunshot wounds.

One victim was reported to be in stable condition, while the other required surgery. Police said the crime scene has been located, but investigators still had not determined what led to the shooting or identified any suspects.

The exact sequence remains under review, including whether the gunfire followed an argument, a targeted attack or some other dispute. Police have not said whether more than one shooter was involved, and they have not released a description of a suspect.

The shooting added another jolt to a part of Central Fresno that has already seen gun violence before. A 2025 shooting near Del Mar Avenue and Griffith Way drew attention to the same general corridor, and Saturday’s case again put the neighborhood under police scrutiny in the early morning hours, when residents are most likely to be inside and unaware until sirens and patrol cars arrive.

The incident also shows how Fresno police are using gunshot-detection technology to respond within minutes. The city’s current ShotSpotter contract covers 17.26 square miles of gunshot-detection coverage through June 30, 2027, and police have said the technology helps pinpoint where shots were fired so officers can move quickly into the right neighborhood.

That speed has not stopped the city from dealing with persistent shootings even as Fresno police have said the city recorded a 51-year low in homicides in 2025. The Del Mar and Harvard shooting is now part of the department’s wider effort in 2026 to reconstruct gunfire incidents across Central Fresno, where victims sometimes reach medical care before officers fully identify the scene.

Investigators are still trying to determine who fired the shots, who was in the car, and whether anyone else witnessed the shooting before the vehicle reached Community Regional Medical Center. The case remains open as police continue piecing together what happened on a quiet stretch of Central Fresno before sunrise.