Fresno Police had Bellaire way taped off Sunday morning as investigators marked off where dozens of bullet casings fell. According to neighbors, a birthday party for a teenage girl spiraled out of control late Saturday night when a bunch of strangers showed up. An argument broke out, and then shots were fired."It's hard because you move from one end because you think it's bad, so you try to move to a better place and then you got this going on," said Angel Reyes, a neighbor.
Angel Reyes lives a couple doors down from where the shooting happened. She had a total of 11 children in her house at the time.
"I basically got all the kids and got them into one room and I had them all get down on the floor because you never know where the bullets are going to go," said Reyes.
Police never found 17-year Gerontae Laney at the scene. That's because someone actually dropped him off at the hospital.
On Laney's Facebook page, we found pictures of him as well as friends offering condolences after learning of his death.
His murder comes on a street in which homeowners felt comfortable letting their children run around freely, but this shooting has changed their mindset.
"It's going to be a while before I can just let my kids come out here," said Reyes.
"We don't need that here. With all the violence going on in Fresno, it's just time to stop. There are too many innocent bystanders. Too many innocent kids getting killed for all the wrong reasons," said Walter Ware, a neighbor.
This is Fresno’s 34th murder of the year. If you have any information, contact the Fresno Police Department at (559) 621-7000. There may be a reward for information.
