Students kept out of apartments by police

By Katrina Garcia
The Collegian

Students who were near campus Tuesday morning heard more than the familiar sound of the hour-bell ringing.

Inside University Village and Plaza Apartments and en route to classes, Fresno State students both heard and saw the dramatic police chase that led officers down Barstow Avenue.

Lindsey Turner was in her apartment at University Village when she heard shots fired.

“I heard gunshots and I could smell the gunpowder,” Turner said.

Turner, a freshman from San Diego, said she didn’t expect the high-speed chase and shooting to happen near Fresno State.

“It was a little scary,” Turner said. “I’m ready to go home.”

Both Plaza Apartments and University Village were on lockdown until the afternoon, causing frustration among students trying to get into their apartments.

Alex Hansen, a Fresno State junior, said he gave his friend a ride to campus in the morning and returned to find his apartment complex closed off, making it impossible for him to go back inside. Hansen saw the dozens of police cars and was stunned at the amount of officers surrounding the area.

“I’ve never seen so many in my life,” he said.

Daniel Toro, a Fresno State sophomore, said when he and his sister left the Arbor Place Apartments Tuesday morning, officers were waiting outside to check the cars leaving the apartment complex.

“I left around 8:30,” Toro said. “I heard shots and sirens. They opened the trunk and pointed guns in the trunk,” Toro said.

University Village resident Doug Crawshaw expressed frustration when he described the amount of security at his apartment complex. The sophomore thought the suspects could have in no way been in his building.

“You need keycards to get in,” Crawshaw said. “There’s no way they’re in there.”

While many students were irritated by the lockdown, some students like Rebekah Brennan felt protected by the heightened security.

“They have to do what they have to do,” Brennan said, a junior transfer student from San Diego. “It makes me feel safer.”

Todd Christensen, a 21 year-old Fresno State student and employee at The Bulldog Shop, said he was walking from campus when he discovered Barstow Avenue was closed off. Christensen believed the blocking-off of the Cedar and Barstow intersection would have a negative effect on business in the Bulldog Plaza.

“Definitely it will,” Christensen said. “It affects all these businesses.”

Chris Kang, owner of Sushi ‘N’ Pop also located in The Bulldog Plaza, said business was anything but usual during Tuesday’s lunch-hour.

“Usually lunch is very busy,” Kang said, who bought the restaurant in August. “Today, no customers.”

Jamie Russell, a fourth-year biology major, was on her way back to her apartment at University Village when police told her she could not enter into the building.

“I wanted to get lunch because I don’t have any money on me,” Russell said.

Russell, who is from San Clemente, said she was concerned about how safe the area is surrounding University Village, stating that several robberies have occurred in the Plaza Apartment complex.

“University Village is more secure,” Russell said. “I don’t know this area. It seems like it’s getting worse. It’s kind of scary when people are driving through campus with guns.”

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