Shooting in medical office
The shotgun-wielding man was involved in a child custody dispute with the victim, say police. Shootings occur at a clinic.
A gunman who killed a woman and himself in Fresno was the father of five of her seven children.
FRESNO — A gunman entered a pediatric medical office Tuesday in downtown Fresno and fatally shot a woman and then himself, police said.
Authorities described the incident as a domestic disturbance between the gunman, Neng Moua, and the 34-year-old woman — a mother of seven — with whom he had had a past romantic relationship.
Moua entered the pediatric office a little before 11 a.m. and shot the woman several times with a shotgun at close range, Fresno Police Deputy Chief Pat Farmer said.
There was a brief pause, then as police entered the building, they heard a single shot.
Moua, 43, of Clovis shot and killed himself, he said. Police entered the office and found both people dead.
“This is a tragedy and we are grateful no one else was hurt or killed during this incident,” Farmer said.
Five of the woman’s children were fathered by Moua. Police notified her children of the deadly shooting.
Kelly Mek, 13, said she saw the gunman enter the office near S and Mariposa streets holding a gun wrapped in fabric.
The man, she said, smelled of alcohol.
The girl said he approached an office employee at the front counter and said, “Why did you come to my house?”
According to the girl, the employee replied, “You need to leave.”
The gunman grabbed the woman, pulled her hair and unwrapped the gun, according to the girl, who said she fled the office with her mother and brother.
Downtown Fresno turned into a chaotic scene as police and SWAT team members stormed the office and ordered evacuations for nearby buildings, including a church where a funeral was being held.
Moua, police said, had a history of domestic violence.
The couple were in an ongoing custody battle, which was headed to court in May, Farmer said.
The woman’s co-workers believe that may have led to Tuesday’s shooting.