Man killed by off-duty officer near road rage incident identified

ORANGE COVE, California -- The Fresno County Sheriff's Office identified the suspect killed by an off-duty officer as Ricardo Piceno, 39.

Deputies say it happened just before 8 p.m. on Thursday near the intersection of Monson and Floral avenues. When they arrived, they found a man inside a car with a gunshot wound. He had been shot by the off-duty Orange Cove officer.

Investigators say the confrontation started after Piceno ran the officer off the road. Piceno then kept slamming his car into the off-duty officer's vehicle. That's when the officer got out his vehicle and opened fire.

Piceno was taken to Reedley hospital where he was pronounced dead.

During the investigation, deputies found out Piceno was involved in up to four road rage incidents in both Fresno and Tulare counties prior to the shooting.

"So we were able to track down the victims of all of those, and it appears the vehicle that was involved was involved in all of those incidents, the road rage incidents," said Lt. Jose Salinas, Fresno Co. Sheriff's Office.

Authorities have not said what is next for the off-duty officer at this time, but in most cases, it's standard procedure for the officer to be placed on paid administrative leave.

The Fresno County Sheriff's Office is investigating the officer-involved shooting.