Authorities say the 28-year-old man assaulted a woman, fired several shots outside a Selma-area home and refused deputies’ orders to surrender.
SELMA, CA — A Fresno County sheriff’s deputy shot and critically wounded an armed 28-year-old man early Tuesday after authorities said a domestic disturbance escalated into an assault, gunfire and a confrontation with deputies outside a home near Selma.
The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office identified the man as Manuel Frausto of Selma. Dispatchers received a call about 2 a.m. Oct. 27 reporting a suicidal man armed with a gun outside a home on South Del Rey Avenue, just south of Manning Avenue. Investigators later determined the call involved a domestic disturbance between Frausto and a woman with whom he had a relationship, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Frausto did not live at the property.
Authorities said Frausto had gone to the home to contact the woman before a physical altercation occurred. The woman was able to separate herself from him and lock him outside, the Sheriff’s Office said. Officials described the confrontation as a domestic violence incident in which the woman was assaulted. Her name was not released, and authorities did not disclose the extent of any injuries she suffered.
While outside the home, Frausto fired several rounds from a handgun, investigators said. No people or property were struck. Fresno County sheriff’s spokesperson Tony Botti told ABC30 that investigators determined the shots had been fired into the air because they found no damage to nearby structures. Dispatchers also told responding deputies that Frausto was pounding on a door of the home.
Deputies established a perimeter after arriving and used a drone to monitor Frausto, according to ABC30. Authorities said he was standing in the driveway with a handgun and at one point held the weapon behind his back. Deputies repeatedly ordered him to drop the gun and surrender, but he did not comply, the Sheriff’s Office said.
At about 2:53 a.m., Frausto made a movement that prompted one deputy to fire a rifle, according to Botti. Officials have not publicly described the movement in greater detail or said whether Frausto pointed the handgun at deputies. Frausto was struck at least once in the upper body. Deputies then approached him, took him into custody and began providing medical aid.
Emergency medical personnel transported Frausto to Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno, where authorities said he was in critical condition. No deputies or other residents at the home were injured during the shooting. The deputy who fired the rifle has worked for the Sheriff’s Office for at least five years, according to Botti. The deputy’s name had not been publicly released as of Wednesday.
Fresno County jail records list Frausto as booked Oct. 27 in connection with the incident. The booking record lists allegations including inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant, assault likely to cause great bodily injury, criminal threats, kidnapping, false imprisonment with violence, negligent discharge of a firearm, carrying a loaded firearm in public and obstructing an officer. The booking allegations are not findings of guilt, and it was not immediately clear which counts, if any, prosecutors had formally filed in court.
Botti said deputies had previously responded to the property for a domestic violence incident. Authorities did not release details about that earlier call. Homicide detectives and members of the Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Unit were assigned to collect evidence and interview witnesses following Tuesday’s shooting.
The deputy-involved shooting remains under investigation and is the third involving the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office this year, according to the agency. Officials had not announced additional findings about the deputy’s use of force or released video of the confrontation as of Wednesday.
Author note: Last updated October 28, 2026.