Four Asian men killed, 6 insured in Fresno shootings

SCREEN CAPTURE / ABC

One of the shooting victims is wheeled to an ambulance in Fresno, Calif.

ASAM NEWS &
VIEWS FROM THE EDGE

Four people are dead and  six others injured after a shooting during a football watch party in Fresno, California, reports KFSN.

"Somebody came up on foot, possibly at least one suspect and began firing," Fresno Deputy Police Chief Michael Reid said. "They fired into the backyard where most of the people were in this party, striking 10 people."

Two suspects are being sought by police.

“Officers came in and saw three people who were down immediately. They were all Asian males between 25 and 30,” said Lt. Bill Dooley of the Fresno Police Department to ABC News.

Pao Yang, a Hmong community representative and CEO of The Fresno Center, told ABC News that two of the victims are well-known singers in the Hmong community.

The Fresno County Sheriff's Office has identified the homicide victims as 23-year-old Xy Lee, 31-year-old Phia Vang, 38-year-old Kou Xiong, and 40-year-old Kalaxang Thao, all lived in Fresno.

Two of the 10 people shot during a party in Fresno on Sunday night have been identified as well-known in the community as singers who regularly perform at Hmong celebrations. JN Vang was wounded, the Fresno Bee reports, and has undergone surgery. The other singer. Xyy Lee, was one of the four fatalities.

With 30,000 Hmong residents, Fresno is home to one of the two largest Hmong populations in Fresno, the other is Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Police say the suspects entered the backyard of the home and immediately began firing at ten people in the yard. Another 25 people inside the home were not injured.
The six wounded victims are expected to survive.

A man who lives nearby the shooting scene said another home was shot at last week, spurring fear about gunfire in the neighborhood.

“It makes me feel unsafe to be outside when the sun’s down,” Choua Vang told the Fresno Bee. “We’re thinking about moving out of the neighborhood.”

Police have seen a spike in Asian gang violence and are worried about a possible escalation leading up to Hmong New Year celebrations starting next month.

Fresno Police Chief Andrew Hall says there’s no evidence that anyone at the house was tied to gangs but says the department is establishing a gang task force to investigate.

Authorities say they’re investigating if there’s a connection between the shooting and a disturbance that some of the men at the party were involved in last week.

"It's a dark day in our community, not only in our Hmong community, but I think in our Fresno community," Yang reporters.

_______________________________________________________________________

Veteran police officer killed by wrong-way driver

ASAM NEWS

A 26-year veteran of the Fresno Police Department in California’s Central Valley and one of its first Hmong American officers has been killed by a wrong way driver, reports the Fresno Bee.

Officer Phia Vang

Phia Vang, 48, is survived by a wife and four children.

Witnesses say they saw Cameron Pryor, 33, driving erratically, going the wrong way and striking several vehicles before colliding with a pick up truck driven by Vang on the freeway. Both died on impact.

ABC30 reports Pryor has a prior DUI conviction in 2011. He was also involved in a fatal crash last September when a motorcyclist died after slamming into the back of Pryor’s truck. Police pulled Pryor over for suspected DUI a few days later, but no charges were filed when he passed a sobriety test.

“He is considered a hero in the Hmong community and a role model and somebody they looked upon and respected, and he earned every bit of that,” said Todd Fraizer of the Fresno Police Officer Association to ABC30.

His eldest son, Corey Vang, spoke to Your Central Valley.

“At first I didn’t believe it because it’s just one of those things you don’t take easily; you don’t swallow that at first,” says Vang.

Vang described video of Pryor driving right before the moment of impact as upsetting, but says he was taught to forgive and forget.

_______________________________________________________________________________

The department considered Pryor a gang expert and considered his ties to the Hmong community an asset which helped build trust with that community.