Police: Gunman laughed as he discussed shootings
Shooter killed three white men before being arrested
FRESNO, Calif. — The black gunman suspected of killing three white men in a racially motivated attack in Fresno was proud of what he had done and laughed many times as he explained his actions in interviews with police, authorities said Wednesday.
After Kori Ali Muhammad learned that he was wanted in the death of a security guard last week, he decided to take out as many other white men as possible before he was caught, Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said.
“That’s what he set out to do that day. He said he did not like white men and said white people were responsible for keeping black people down,” Dyer said.
Muhammad “is not a terrorist but he is a racist,” Dyer said.
The suspect was candid in explaining his actions from Thursday night to Tuesday morning, when he fired 16 rounds in less than two minutes and killed three white men on the same block, the police chief said.
Meanwhile, family and friends mourned the four men.
Francine Williams described her 25-year-old son, Carl Williams, as a kind and giving person who had recently gotten engaged. Williams was a manager at a Toys R’ Us who was at his second job when Muhammad shot and killed him at a Motel 6.
She said Wednesday she was in shock, but also at peace because she had the chance to tell him how much she loved him and how proud she was of him a few days before his death. He told her loved her too.
“So, I’m very, very, very grateful that I was able to say goodbye, maybe not at that moment, but prior to that,” she said.
Zackary Randalls was the first to die on Tuesday when Muhammad walked up to a Pacific Gas & Electric truck and fired into the passenger seat. The driver sped to the police department for help, but Randalls could not be saved.
Friend Eddie Valencia said Randalls was excited to start work as a customer-service representative and was doing a ride-along Tuesday. He described the 34-year-old as an openminded person with a sharp wit and a big heart.
He said his friend, who left behind two preschoolers and a wife in Clovis, would not want people to feel anger toward the shooter.
“He wouldn’t want people to be divided by this,” Valencia said. “There were no boundaries with race, religions, beliefs, with anything. If you were a good person and basically could have a good conversation, he would call you a friend. He was a stand-up guy.”
Muhammad also shot Mark Gassett, 37, of Fresno, after he had picked up groceries at a Catholic Charities building. Police said the suspect pumped two more rounds into him as Gassett lay on the ground.
He then shot in the direction of a bus stop where he had spotted three white males, police said. They scattered, and Muhammad picked the one who was older and appeared heavier, David Jackson, 58, of Fresno.
“That was going to be his target, and he caught up with him and he fired two rounds into this individual,” Dyer said.
Two Latina women and a child also crossed paths with Muhammad, who pointed the gun at them as they sat in their car trying to flee, but he did not shoot.