Yelling “Gun!” is Dangerous, Not Funny

running away.

March 9, 2023 - Clovis Police Detectives continue to investigate the suspicious death of an adult female found on a sidewalk near Temperance/Sierra last Saturday.

Just after 7:00 A.M. on Saturday, March 4, our communications center received a call from the area of McKelvy/Vartikian, which is in the middle of a quiet residential neighborhood.

Officers arrived on scene within minutes and found the injured female lying on the sidewalk next to a dog that was on a leash. While the dog was uninjured, the female was pronounced dead at the scene, and Detectives and Crime Scene personnel were called out to investigate the circumstances.

The deceased female has been identified by the Fresno County Coroner’s Office as 67-year-old Barbara Rote of Clovis. Our investigation so far has shown that Barbara was walking her dog in a neighborhood near hers on Saturday morning.

Detectives have reviewed surveillance cameras from several homes in the area and spoken to neighbors.

According to the investigation so far, Barbara died from blunt force trauma, but it’s unknown what exactly caused her injuries.

Video surveillance from nearby homes show

An autopsy has been performed on Ms. Rote, and Detectives continue to investigate the circumstances of this suspicious death. At this time, Detectives are asking anyone with information or with video surveillance they have not viewed from the area, to come forward.

If you live in the area of McKelvy/Vartikian and have video surveillance showing a red car on March 4, between 6:45 A.M. – 7:10 A.M., or if you have information regarding this case, please call Clovis Police Detective Jaime at (559) 324-3495, or Valley Crimestoppers at (559) 498-STOP.

March 11, 2023 - Saturday night, several Clovis Police officers responded to the Sierra Vista Mall with lights and siren because someone reported an armed robbery had just occurred. An 11-year-old called 911 just after 7pm to report that someone had just threatened another juvenile with a gun, and stole their cell phone.

Our investigation showed that no gun was ever seen, but the caller called because others were yelling it and

That ended up being a prank on friends. Thankfully, no one was injured during this incident.

Please make smarter decisions about when and where to pull off a good prank with your friends.

A mall on a Saturday evening is definitely not the place to be yelling “gun!”

Unfortunately, those at fault were gone when officers arrived.

Thank you to the caller who dialed 911!

Parents, please talk to your kids, and kids, don’t do something like this.