Officer Loses Gun at Fresno City College While Pursuing Suspect
Police believe the gun, which has yet to be found, was dislodged from the sergeant’s belt when he fell during a foot chase.
The weapon was a fully loaded Smith and Wesson MP 9mm. (Photo courtesy of State Center Community College District Police)
FRESNO, Calif. — A campus police sergeant lost his service weapon Wednesday after he fell while pursuing a car theft suspect.
The State Center Community College District (SCCCD) Police Department, which serves four community colleges and two educational centers, said several teenagers crashed a stolen car during a chase with Fresno Police, ABC30. The suspects then ran toward Fresno City College and officers pursued them.
An SCCCD sergeant located one of the suspects near a parking structure on campus and chased them through a parking lot. The sergeant slipped and fell but resumed the chase, police said. The sergeant soon realized his service weapon had fallen off his belt when some of his equipment broke, likely in the fall. Several officers combed the area but were unable to find the weapon.
“It’s a huge safety concern not only for our campus community but also the general public because this is a police-grade weapon it was fully loaded and therefore somewhere out there someone took a police weapon,” said SCCCD Police Chief Jose Flores. “The parking structure, which is a new structure has multiple cameras, but none captured one, the fall, and two, who took the weapon.”
The lost gun has been entered into the California law enforcement database to alert other police agencies. If anyone finds the weapon, police said it can be returned with no questions asked by calling campus dispatch at 559-244-6140 or the Fresno Police Department, 559-621-7000. Possessing a stolen weapon is a felony in the state of California.
A Fresno City College parent reached out to local news station CBS47 and said their child was never notified that an officer’s gun was missing. One message sent to students around 7:11 p.m. said there would be officers on campus assisting the Fresno Police Department. Another sent around 8:19 p.m. said police were on campus looking for three juveniles but that the campus was safe.
“If I would have known there is a gun on the loose, I wouldn’t have come today,” said student Karlie Gonzales.
When asked why an alert didn’t go out to students about the missing weapon, Flores said the department decided to send out a media release instead, hoping it would reach more people. CBS47 says it received the media release at 10:40 p.m.
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About the Author
Amy Rock, Executive Editor
Amy is Campus Safety’s Executive Editor. Prior to joining the editorial team in 2017, she worked in both events and digital marketing.
Amy has many close relatives and friends who are teachers, motivating her to learn and share as much as she can about campus security. She has a minor in education and has worked with children in several capacities, further deepening her passion for keeping students safe.
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