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Angel Rojas

Age : 39

Gender : Male

Race : Latino/a/e

Date : 08/30/2024

Location : Grant Avenue and Seventh Street

City : Fresno

County : Fresno

State : California

Agency : California Highway Patrol; Fresno County Sheriff’s Office; Help Eliminate Auto Theft Team

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Gunshot

Event : Killed by police during stolen car traffic stop

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/20/2024, at approximately 2:55 p.m., members of the multi-agency Help Eliminate Auto Theft Team, known as HEAT, approached Angel Rojas, 39, while he was sitting in the driver’s seat of a vehicle police believed was stolen near Grant Avenue and Seventh Street in central Fresno. The HEAT personnel involved included California Highway Patrol officers and a Fresno County Sheriff’s Office deputy.
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The officers were using unmarked law-enforcement vehicles. Fresno Police Lt. Paul Cervantes said the vehicles had their emergency lights and sirens activated and that the officers, although working in plain clothes, wore clothing identifying them as police. The officers approached Rojas on foot and attempted to take him into custody.
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Police alleged that Rojas put the vehicle into reverse and rammed two unmarked law-enforcement vehicles while officers were outside their vehicles. Two California Highway Patrol officers and one Fresno County Sheriff’s Office deputy then fired at Rojas, striking him multiple times in the upper torso. At least one nearby witness reported hearing approximately 10 gunshots.
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Rojas was transported to Community Regional Medical Center in critical condition. He remained hospitalized for ten days before dying from his gunshot injuries on 08/30/2024. The original database entry incorrectly stated that Rojas died at the scene; later reporting confirms that he survived the initial shooting and died at the hospital.
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Fresno police reported that investigators subsequently recovered a loaded firearm from the driver’s-side floorboard of the vehicle. Available accounts do not report that Rojas fired the weapon or was holding it when police shot him. Police also reported that Rojas was on post-release community supervision and was wanted for an alleged supervision violation.
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None of the three officers who shot Rojas was wearing a body-worn camera. This is significant because the encounter involved plainclothes HEAT personnel using unmarked vehicles, leaving the investigation without body-camera footage from the officers who fired.
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Fresno police investigated the shooting, and the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office conducted an independent review.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
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Three unidentified law-enforcement officers fired at Rojas: two California Highway Patrol officers and one Fresno County Sheriff’s Office deputy.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://abc30.com/post/suspect-shooting-involving-chp-officers-deputy-fresno-dies-hospital/15271207/
https://kmph.com/news/local/man-dies-in-officer-involved-shooting-near-fresno
https://www.gvwire.com/2024/09/05/fresno-man-killed-by-police-task-force-is-identified/
https://abc30.com/post/investigation-underway-after-shooting-involving-chp-officers-fresno/15210488/
https://abc30.com/post/heat-team-dedicated-vehicle-theft-investigation/15224905/
https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article291233035.html
https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/crime/article291985095.html