The City of Clovis honored three of its police officers at a city council meeting Tuesday, Feb. 18 for making an arrest that led to a break in the November mass shooting case.
It was a cold night Dec. 17 when Clovis Police Officers Richard Cressall, Michael McElroy and Carlos Santos responded to a report of mail theft in an apartment complex off of Clovis Avenue, just before 3:30 a.m.
Cressall stopped a vehicle he saw leaving the complex when he arrived. A search of the vehicle revealed a handgun with high capacity magazines, which officers tied to the Nov. 17 backyard mass shooting that killed four men and wounded six others, all of whom were Hmong. None of the victims were gang affiliated.
The stop led to the arrest of 25-year-old Billy Xiong, who owned the car. Five other suspects were arrested in connection with the mass shooting the following week, all members of the Mongolian Boys Society gang.
“We took it step by set up like any other call for service, I definitely was not expecting it turn into something as large as it did,” McElroy told the Roundup. “The real credit goes to Officer Cressall because he was the first one on scene and caught the guys.”
Clovis Police Chief Curt Fleming commended the officers, saying they reflect the hard work of the police department.
“These Clovis officers are to be commended for the detailed and thorough investigation conducted in this case,” Fleming said. “This incident is a reminder of how quickly a single encounter by officers can be a key to a major investigation. Officers Cressall, McElroy and Santos performed their duties in a manner which reflects positively on this agency, city and valley law enforcement as a whole.”
All of the councilmembers thanked and congratulated the officers.
In an emotional speech, Councilmember Vong Mouanoutoua said the community response to the shooting showed how much Fresno and Clovis have embraced the Hmong community.
“It shows how far Fresno and Clovis has come. I think if something like this happened 20 years ago, the response would have been different, but it shows how much our community has embraced those who are new to our community,” Mouanoutoua said. “The outpouring of support, whether it was emotional, financial, political, even just communication from police and the city to the community, was something we never saw before.”
He added that he was proud that it was Clovis police who made the arrest that led to the breakthrough in the case.
“When the arrests came – and even though no one knew it was Clovis who started the arrests – it brought such a sense of closure and importance to the community,” he said. “It made me especially proud when I learned from the first news conference that it was Clovis that broke that case. I appreciate the work that you do.”
Mayor Drew Bessinger said the break in the case reflects both the police department and community’s dedication to making Clovis a safe city.
“I am very happy that you were able to do this great work, and as a member of your profession ands a retired Clovis police officer, I am proud that Clovis continues to be the community that you should not come to if you are planning to commit a crime, that we have citizens that will pick up the phone and call 911 because they care about their community and they know their police department is going to take it seriously,” Bessinger said.
Police say the suspects carried out the shooting in retaliation for a previous shooting that killed 28-year-old Randy Xiong. But the suspects targeted the wrong gathering, mistaking that backyard gathering for an Asian Crips party.
The other five suspects include 27-year-old Anthony Montes, 26-year-old Porge Kue, 25-year-old Johnny Xiong, 30-year-old Pao Vang, and 19-year-old Jhovanny Delgado.
Each of the six men face four counts of homicide, 12 counts of attempted homicide and conspiracy to commit murder.
In February, Police announced that a seventh suspect, 27-year-old Ger Lee, was in custody and being charged for the same crimes as the other suspects.