FRESNO - The Fresno man who was shot and killed after allegedly attacking a Fresno County Sheriff’s deputy Friday afternoon has been identified as 30-year-old Tyler Kennedy Deel. The Fresno Police Department is assisting the Fresno County Sheriff's Office with the investigation.
Around 4:00 pm on Friday, deputies were dispatched to a home on the 5600 block of South Waverly Lane in southeast Fresno. There was a report of a man named Tyler Deel, who was armed with a knife, trying to attack his family members. While en route, dispatchers notified deputies that the suspect had fled the house. About 10 minutes after the initial call, a deputy in the area spotted a man matching the suspect's description walking toward a shopping center on the northeast corner of Kings Canyon Road & Clovis Avenue.
The EAGLE One helicopter arrived to assist and followed the suspect, who was carrying a Five-foot-long tree branch. The deputy mentioned above pulled his patrol car into the shopping center and contacted the man, who would prove to be Tyler Deel. The deputy ordered him to drop the branch and surrender, but Deel refused. Deel pulled out a knife and threw it at the deputy. The knife missed him, and Deel then ran at the deputy, utilizing the branch as a weapon. The deputy retreated and then fired multiple shots at Deel, striking him as he closed in on the deputy. Additional deputies and firefighters approached Deel and provided medical aid, but he died in the lot just outside a Valero gas station.
No law enforcement members were injured.
Anyone with additional information to help with this investigation is asked not to hesitate to contact Detective Jesse Gloria at (559) 600-8217 or Crime Stoppers at (559) 498-7867. You will remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.