Chief says city crushed by slaying of Selma police officer. ‘He did everything right’

Slain Selma Police Officer Gonzalo Carrasco Jr. was recognized Friday as “a budding star” within the department — a 24-year-old father-to-be with a bright smile

Carrasco was gunned down Tuesday, leaving a community stunned.

Selma Police Chief Rudy Alcaraz was emotional at times as he described Carrasco during a news conference Friday with Fresno County Sheriff John Zanoni and District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp.

“Gonzalo Carrasco was a great human being with a great smile,” Alcaraz said. “I want to ensure that everyone knows that this young man came from a great family. His parents did everything right. He did everything right.”

The son of agricultural workers, Carrasco was described as a hard worker who had himself worked in the fields to earn money because being a police reserve was unpaid. He later went on to be a fully-sworn officer.

“It’s the biggest tragedy that someone who did nothing right in their life took that … greatness from this world (and) robbed this family, crushed their aspirations for Gonzalo, crushed a community’s spirit,” the chief added.

Carrasco’s death was the first line-of-duty death experienced by the Selma Police Department, Alcaraz said.

Iver Johansen, a constable for Selma, was killed in 1961, according to information from the Fresno County Peace Officers Memorial Foundation.

The loss is taking an emotional toll on the Selma department, which has fewer than 40 officers.

Between Tuesday, when the shooting happened, and Thursday evening, Fresno County Sheriff’s deputies took over routine patrol operations in Selma “to allow our officers some time to grieve with their families, take all this in and process this tragic event,” Alcaraz said. Selma officers resumed their patrol duties Thursday night.

To help officers, as well as Selma firefighters and ambulance paramedics who tried to save Carrasco, Alcaraz said an on-site counselor was made available Thursday, and a debriefing is planned for Monday for emergency personnel.

“We’re connecting our personnel with additional services, more long-term, and we’ll be assessing that every day,” the chief said.

As officers return to their shifts, supervisors will get a chance to see how they are coping with the loss of their colleague. “We’re just trying to be mindful the best we can to give those officers enough time, to make sure they’re communicating and (tell them) we’re there for them.”

As the case progresses

Friday’s news conference followed the first court appearance for Nathaniel Dixon, the man charged with killing Carrasco.

Smittcamp, whose office filed murder charges against Dixon this week, offered her condolences to Carrasco’s family as well as to the communities of Selma and Reedley, where Carrasco grew up and first showed an interest in law enforcement as an Explorer scout with the Reedley Police Department.

“These are small towns with close-knit relationships, and today all of us mourn with you,” Smittcamp said.

Carrasco, she added, “was our hope for the future. He was the type of young officer that we all look at and say, ‘There’s hope for this young generation.’ And he was stolen away by a person who had no regard for human life.”

Zanoni laid out more particulars of the shooting while keeping other investigative details undisclosed. Investigators said Carrasco, in his encounter with Dixon shortly before noon on Tuesday, had been talking with Dixon from inside his patrol car. After a nearby resident told Carrasco that Dixon did not live at the house in whose yard he was standing, the officer got out of his vehicle.

At that point, Zanoni said, Dixon allegedly drew a .223-caliber assault-style rifle and shot Carrasco three times before running away and leaving the mortally wounded officer in the street.

A community mourns

Alcaraz worked for the Selma Police Department for 20 years, and then served with the Fowler Police Department for five years before returning to Selma as its police chief about six months ago. By that time, Carrasco had been on the force full-time for about a year and a half.

Carrasco was raised in Reedley, and after his time as a police Explorer joined Selma’s Volunteers in Policing program. He eventually became a reserve officer in Selma.

But as an unpaid reserve officer in Selma, “he couldn’t afford to help support his family, so he went back to working in the fields with his parents to help support the family until we got an opening,” Alcaraz said. “We called him and immediately offered him that job as a full-time sworn officer.”

“No one was more deserving than that young man,” he added.

“When I walked back into Selma as police chief, there were so many new faces, so many new officers,” Alcaraz said. But Carrasco was “the one who’s always smiling; he had this phenomenal smile that lit up the room every time he walked in. He was always positive. I appreciated and loved that about him.”

Alcaraz said that Carrasco’s family has asked for privacy as they mourn their loss. “They’re a strong family, but they’re grieving, they’re hurting,” Alcaraz told The Fresno Bee.

“I know they would love to see a great showing from our community beyond law enforcement,” he added. “What I would like to see is our community members stand up and support our fallen officer … so that his parents know his life, everything he stood for, was bigger than himself, bigger than all of us up here.”

The pain is shared by the Selma community, where a memorial to the slain officer grew throughout the week at one corner of Lincoln Park in downtown Selma, and beyond. “We’re getting calls daily, inundated … from throughout the nation with generous donations, wanting to just convey their support and their grief at the loss of Officer Carrasco,” Alcaraz said.

In the meantime, Alcaraz said residents are trying to come to terms with what happened and what it represents.

“I think this is a wake-up call for everybody,” he said. “This isn’t downtown Los Angeles (or) Echo Park. This is small-town America. This person felt brazen enough to pull out an assault rifle in broad daylight in a residential neighborhood in front of witnesses, and kill one of our officers. He only did that because he felt comfortable to do so because he felt he could get away.”

Memorial service for Officer Carrasco

On its Facebook page, the Selma Police Department announced that a memorial service for Carrasco will be held Feb. 16 at the Fresno Convention Center; a time had not yet been determined by Friday afternoon.

Fundraiser in Reedley on Sunday

Reedley Police and the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office announced they are teaming up with the Starbucks at 1801 Manning Ave. in Reedley for a fundraiser to support Carrasco’s family on Sunday, Feb. 5.

Coffee with a Cop runs 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and includes raffles.

Selma Police Officers start memorial fund

The Fresno Deputy Sheriff’s Association has established a memorial fund in support of the Selma Police Officers Association to collect donations that will be provided to Carrasco’s family.

The online page for the memorial fund states a fundraising goal of $200,000. By Friday evening, hours after the campaign was established, donors had pledged more than $16,000.

In addition to the online campaign page on the Peace Officers Relief and Education Foundation website , contributions may also be sent to the Fresno Deputy Sheriff’s Association, in care of the Selma POA Memorial Fund, 1360 Van Ness Ave., Fresno, CA 93721.