CLOVIS, Calif. – Weeks after a shooting in Clovis left a teenager dead, formal charges are expected to be filed as soon as Tuesday against two other teenagers who are accused of the crime.
The Clovis Police Department announced on Friday that two teenagers, both 16, were arrested for the alleged murder of 18-year-old Clovis senior Caleb Quick. He was shot and killed outside of a Clovis McDonald’s restaurant on April 23.
Quick’s killing came as a shock to residents in Clovis, especially after surveillance footage shared by police showed one of the alleged suspects seeming to follow Quick around before the shooting. For just over two weeks, it was unclear who carried out the killing, and the lack of suspects caused widespread speculation online and in the community.
Crime Stoppers had offered as much as $40,000 for information that led to arrests. Police say they received nearly 100 tips, though none led them directly to the suspects.
The teenage suspects – a male and a female – are also students in the Clovis Unified School District, and their families have retained attorneys, according to police.
News reports say Quick and his family were famously saved by a neighbor’s dog from an arson house fire two years ago.
He was weeks away from entering training with the U.S. Air Force before he was killed.
Timeline of events
According to suspect evidence shared by police, Quick entered a McDonald’s at Nees and Willow avenues April 23 around 8:33 p.m., and a male suspect entered shortly after at 8:38.
Surveillance footage shows the suspect wearing all black with his face covered.
Quick appears to be surveilled by the suspect inside the restaurant up until 8:56 p.m., when they both exited into the parking lot. That’s when Quick was shot, and later died.
Police say the suspect was later seen running west of Willow Avenue and was believed to have gotten away in a white Tesla driven by a female suspect.
Police recovered the Tesla from a home in Fresno just days before the arrests were announced.
Clovis Unified offers support for student body
At a press conference over the weekend, Clovis police Chief Kurt Fleming said detectives were finalizing their reports and evidence and sending the case to the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office for formal review.
Fleming said the case has shocked the community. He said, “this doesn’t happen in Clovis.”
“My hope is that by arresting the murder suspects in this case it brings some sense of closure for [Quick’s family],” Fleming said.
Clovis Unified School District Superintendent Corrine Folmer also released a statement saying the district was offering mental health and emotional wellness support to students.
She also said extra police officers will be deployed at schools where those involved in the shooting attended.
“As a parent of a student in our district, I recognize the fear we can have for our own children when something like this happens in our community,” Folmer said.
