6 suspected gang members arrested in shooting in Fresno backyard that killed 4

Show Caption Hide Caption Fresno mass shooting: Hmong community reacts Pao Yang, head of the Fresno Center, a nonprofit agency focused on Hmong residents, talks about the Sunday shooting that killed four people.

FRESNO, Calif. – Six suspected gang members were arrested in a shooting that killed four people and injured several others during a backyard party, the Fresno Police Department said Tuesday.

Police Chief Andy Hall said that the suspects are all self-admitted Mongolian Boys Society gang members and that they carried out the shooting to retaliate against a rival gang, the Asian Crips, that they believed was responsible for the death of a member of their gang.

At least one of the people who attended the backyard party was a former member of the Asian Crips, Hall said. He would not say whether any of the dead or wounded from the mass shooting were Asian Crip members.

"We see them as victims," Hall said during a news conference Tuesday.

Background: 4 dead in 'mass casualty shooting' at Sunday Night Football party in California

The investigation that led to the arrest of the six alleged gang members took 5,000 investigative hours and included local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. Fresno police served 19 search warrants, recovering two guns used in the slayings, including one that was stolen from Oklahoma.

All six men are held on $11 million bail and could face the death penalty, the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office said.

Mayor Lee Brand said the arrests could "bring closure" to the victims' families and the Valley's Hmong community.

"We will work hard to bring peace and comfort to the city of Fresno as we close the page on a very difficult year," the mayor said of what he called a "terrible event that shook Fresno to its core."

"The promise of protection can’t stop with arrests," he said. "We have to remain vigilant and stay alert."

On Nov. 17, at least two suspects entered the backyard of a home in southeast Fresno and opened fire. Ten people were shot, and four died.

All the victims were of Hmong descent. Fresno is home to the second-largest Hmong community in the USA. The men killed were Xy Lee, 23; Phia Vang, 31; Kou Xiong, 38; and Kalaxang Thao, 40.

Police reported that the two suspects had automatic weapons and snuck into the backyard party while people watched the Los Angeles Rams-Chicago Bears Sunday Night Football game.

About 35 people were at the party when the shooting began. The suspects fired on the 16 people in the yard, while the rest of the partygoers – mostly women and children inside the house – were unharmed.

Contributing: The Associated Press