A 23-month-old child and a man were sent to the hospital after a shooting at a birthday party on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
Fresno Police officers responded to the area of Washington Avenue east of First Street after a two-round ShotSpotter activation at around 10:15 p.m.<\/p>\n
While en route, officers received updates that two shooting victims were at a residence on East Washington Avenue.<\/p>\n
When officers arrived, they were told family members took the victims to a local hospital.<\/p>\n
Officers contacted the victims at the hospital, who were identified as a 23-month-old child and a 30-year-old man.<\/p>\n
The child was struck once in the lower leg and suffered a non-life-threatening injury.<\/p>\n
The adult male was struck once in the lower body and was in critical but stable condition. <\/p>\n
Both were still being treated at the hospital.<\/p>\n
At the scene, officers also found another adult male with blunt force injuries to his face and head. <\/p>\n
Felony Assault Detectives later determined that the man was the shooting suspect, police said.<\/p>\n
Detectives learned the suspect and the adult male shooting victim were attending a birthday party at the location when they got into a verbal argument. <\/p>\n
Police said the suspect produced a handgun and fired multiple shots at the adult male victim, and the child was struck by gunfire during the shooting. <\/p>\n
Several other people at the party were not hit.<\/p>\n
Police said the suspect\u2019s injuries happened after the shooting, when people at the party tried to take the firearm away from him. <\/p>\n
Officers recovered a handgun at the location.<\/p>\n
The suspect was identified as Paul Benefield, 39, a Fresno resident. <\/p>\n
He was taken into custody and was being treated at the hospital. <\/p>\n