Man killed in Fresno Sheriff shooting ID’d. What deputies say led to fatal incident
The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office on Monday identified the man shot by a deputy Saturday evening near First Street and McKinley Avenue as Mathew Lopez, 27.
The shooting took place in the Mayfair District, an unincorporated area near central Fresno. Sheriff’s spokesman Tony Botti said that about 5:20, deputies arrived in the 2100 block of Mayfair Drive East to check a report of a disturbance and a stabbing. Two people with “significant injuries” were located by the deputies, said Botti.
Lopez was nearby in the front yard of a home and was armed with a 12-inch by 12-inch concrete stepping stone. Lopez refused deputies’ orders to drop it and a deputy fired a Taser dart at him to no effect, said Botti.
When Lopez charged a second deputy, “cocking back the stone,” the deputy fired his handgun multiple times, striking Lopez, said Botti. Medical aid was initiated by deputies before emergency medical workers took over, and Lopez was taken to a hospital, where he died of his wounds.
Sheriff’s homicide detectives and members of the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office initiated an investigation of the shooting. Botti said preliminary details are that Lopez was involved in a disturbance with family members that turned violent. Lopez was forced from the home and the family called 911. Family members were assaulted in the disturbance and were treated for injuries, he added.
Botti said this is the third deputy-involved shooting of 2022.
Anyone with additional information is asked to call detective Jesse Gloria at 559-600-8217 or Crime Stoppers at 559-498-7867 or www.valleycrimestoppers.org to remain anonymous.
