Reaction to Tower shooting mixed

By Danelle Brockett
The Collegian

In the days following last week’s officer-involved shooting at Fresno’s annual Mardi Gras celebration, some students might be thinking twice about hanging out in the historic Tower District.

Concerns about safety have business owners worried that the popular area might struggle to recover from the perception of crime in the Tower District, an area of dining and entertainment located primarily off of Olive and Van Ness avenues.

Last Tuesday night, a motorcycle officer pulled over a Clovis man suspected of drunken driving last Tuesday night. The suspect pulled out a gun, fired multiple shots and injured an officer, according to Fresno police. A 57-year-old female bystander was critically wounded in the crossfire.

Police said the suspect then led officers on a cross-town chase through residential neighborhoods.

Two more officers were shot and the suspect was eventually killed by police.

Veronica Mancha, a manager working at Irene’s Cafe, located just down the street from the incident, said she heard at least seven gunshots.

“I thought they were firecrackers,” Mancha said, a Fresno State graduate student. “I didn’t think much of it. Then I saw people scatter and that’s when I was in shock.”

Mancha then saw the injured woman on the ground, near the gate in front of her restaurant.

“It all just happened so quickly,” Mancha said.

Irene’s, along with other businesses in the Tower District, was closed the day after the shooting as police investigated. For every hour closed, stores lost customers.

“Typically, this is our busy season. But now I don’t think we’ll do as well, because people are not going to feel safe,” Mancha said.

Some students say they might think twice now about spending time in the Tower.

Fresno State student Rachel Solo said she would definitely avoid the Tower after the shooting.

“The Tower District has always seemed kind of dirty to me,” Solo said. “It never appealed and now it really doesn’t.”

Finance major Gina Galicia said she almost attended the Mardi Gras celebrations, but hesitated.

“Fresno can be scary at times,” Galicia said. “Now hearing what happened, it’s obvious my gut instinct was right.”

But other students disagree.

“It doesn’t bother me. I’m not going to change my life,” Daniel Budd, a political science major, said.

Student Kaiser Hamdorf agrees with Budd, pointing out the increased police presence for events like Mardi Gras. Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said in a press conference he had 150 officers on patrol in the Tower District on the night of the shooting, for example.

“I can’t say I would be afraid of being shot if I went down there at night,” Hamdorf said.

Mancha echoed Hamdorf’s sentiments.

“Cops were really strict this year,” she said. “They were everywhere.”

Despite the heavy police presence, and whether the shooting was directly tied to Mardi Gras or not, at least one student acknowledges that incidents like last week’s seem likely to eventually happen in a city the size of Fresno.

“When you get that many people, all from different areas of Fresno, a conflict like that is bound to happen,” criminology major James Lundberg said. “It’s not the first time and it probably won’t be the last.”

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