Video released Friday shows a Fresno police officer narrowly escaped injury in an altercation with an armed man who fired a handgun at close range, according to police.
The body-worn camera footage from Dec. 7 shows an unnamed officer attempting to handcuff a man before the man pulls a gun and fires once, striking the cap the officer was wearing without injuring the officer, according to police.
The man in the video was identified by police as Bradley Nicholson, 41.
A second officer on the scene fired his gun, striking Nicholson in the left cheek, according to police. He was transported to a local hospital and survived his injury.
Nicholson has been charged with five felonies, including attempted murder and two counts of assault on a peace officer, according to court records.
The Fresno Police Department released a photo that shows an officer’s baseball cap struck by a bullet after an exchange of gunfire with a 41-year-old man. The officer was not injured. FRESNO POLICE DEPARTMENT The body-cam video of the Fresno officer
Police said officers were in the area of Clinton and West avenues about 6:45 p.m. Dec. 7 and noticed two men standing near a warming fire in an alley.
One of the officers recognized Nicholson as a person on post-release community supervision, according to police. PRCS is a type of supervision for people who have committed lesser crimes that are not violent or sexual in nature.
The officer approached the man, who told police his name was “Jason,” the video shows. As the officer attempted to handcuff the man, he pulled away.
The officer told the man, “I’m going to drop you,” as Nicholson repeatedly said, “let go,” the video shows. Nicholson also claimed to not be on parole during the extended jostling between the two.
As the officer held Nicholson’s left arm, the man reached for a gun on his right side. The officer reared back away from Nicholson, who fired a single round, police said.
The officer also returned fire as the man fled, video shows. Police said it was a second officer on scene whose gunfire struck Nicholson before the man hid among cars in a carport.
The SWAT team was called in and after almost 90 minutes of a standoff, Nicholson surrendered to police.
No officers were hurt in the exchange, police said.
The shooting was the sixth of 2025 involving an officer.
This story was originally published February 27, 2026 at 2:19 PM.
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Reporter Thaddeus Miller has covered cities in the central San Joaquin Valley since 2010, writing about everything from breaking news to government and police accountability. A native of Fresno, he joined The Fresno Bee in 2019 after time in Merced and Los Banos.