July 3, 2023 - Fresno County Sheriff's Office officials report that the Fresno man who was shot and killed after attacking a Fresno County Sheriff’s deputy has been identified as 30-year-old Tyler Kennedy Deel.

Around 4:00 p.m. on Friday, June 30th, deputies were dispatched to a home on the 5600 block of S. Waverly Ln. 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 enroute, dispatchers notified deputies 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 Rd. & Clovis Ave.

Our 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.  Deel had a violent criminal history.  The Fresno Police Department is assisting the Fresno County Sheriff's Office with the investigation.

Anyone with additional information to help with this investigation is asked to please contact Detective Jesse Gloria at (559) 600-8217 or Crime Stoppers at (559) 498-7867, www.valleycrimestoppers.org. You will remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.

Source & photos: Fresno County Sheriff's Office

Related: Suspect Armed with a Tree Branch Shot and Killed by Fresno County Deputy