Frat brawl puts 2 in hospital

By Laban Pelz
The Collegian

A party at Fresno State fraternity Delta Upsilon ended in a fight and gunshots early Saturday morning.

Two Fresno State students were taken to the hospital and a man is in custody on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a loaded firearm, The Fresno Bee said.

Fraternity member Frank Camara said the fight began when a group of men tried to crash a party at the fraternity house south of campus and members tried to remove them.

He said the party-crashers were not let in because they had no Fresno State student identification.

“No one knew who they were,” Camara said. “When we tried to get them out, they threw some punches and we threw some back.”

A female student was shot in the foot and a male student was hit in the head with a bottle, the Bee said. Both were taken to University Medical Center.

The incident was reported at 12:30 a.m.

Fresno State police said three campus officers and three campus squad cars came to the scene. Fresno city police could not be reached for comment.

Delta Upsilon Chapter President Chris St. George said the injured male student, whom he declined to name, is a fraternity member. He said both injured students were released from the hospital later Saturday.

St. George said there were about 50 people at the party, 20 to 25 of them fraternity members. He said there were about 10 party-crashers.

“They were gang members, street thugs, things of that nature,” he said.

St. George said the only other shot fired was into the air. He said he could only describe the weapon as a handgun, and said no other people were hurt.

The Bee said suspects left before police arrived, though officers were given the description of a car.

According to the Bee, an officer spotted the car in southwest Fresno a few hours later, called for assistance and pulled it over near Freeway 99. Passenger Bobby Nichols, a 20-year-old Fresno resident, was identified as the shooter and arrested.

The gun suspected to have been used was also found in the car.

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