Arrests in Fremont Fatal Shooting

A Fremont homicide case that had gone quiet for two months suddenly moved because of something much smaller — a trespassing call in Hayward. Fremont police said that call led officers to two men they already wanted to question in the fatal February 3 shooting near Central Avenue and Joseph Street. Both men are now in custody on homicide warrants. ### What happened in Fremont? The shooting happened at about 4:19 p.m. on February 3, 2026, in the area of Central Avenue and Joseph Street. Fremont officers got multiple 911 calls, arrived within minutes, and found one victim on the ground. Officers gave trauma care at the scene, but the victim later died. Police have still not publicly named the victim in the releases tied to this case. (fremontpolice.gov) ### Who got arrested? Fremont police named the suspects as 19-year-old Kaleb Soto and 42-year-old Ricardo Duran. Investigators said both men had already been identified as people tied to the homicide investigation before the arrests happened. After the Hayward contact, Fremont detectives took custody of both men and booked them on warrants for Penal Code 187 — homicide. ### Why were they found in Hayward? (fremontpolice.gov) This is the part that makes the story turn. On April 4, 2026, Hayward police responded to a trespassing call. During that detention, officers recognized Soto and Duran as persons of interest in the Fremont killing. That recognition appears to be the break that converted an open homicide investigation into arrests — basically, a local patrol encounter unlocked a case another department had been building. (fremontpolice.gov) ### Why does the date matter? Fremont announced the homicide the night it happened, on February 3, and at that point the department called it an active investigation. The arrest update did not come until May 7, even though the actual detention in Hayward happened on April 4. So there are really three dates here: the killing on February 3, the suspects’ detention on April 4, and the public arrest update on May 7. That helps explain why the case may have felt unresolved for weeks even after police had made progress. (fremontpolice.gov) ### Was this a big case for Fremont? Yes. Fremont police said the shooting was the city’s second homicide of 2026. That matters because homicide cases carry a different kind of public pressure — not just because of severity, but because people want to know whether a shooter is still out there. The arrest update changes that picture. It tells residents that investigators identified suspects, worked with another department, and moved the case into the charging stage. (fremontpolice.gov) ### Is the investigation over? Not completely. Even while announcing the arrests, Fremont police kept asking for witnesses and tips. That usually means detectives still want to tighten the timeline, test statements against evidence, or identify anyone else who may have been involved or present. An arrest is a major step, but it is not the same thing as a full public accounting of motive or events. (fremontpolice.gov) ### Why does the inter-city piece matter? Because this is how a lot of real cases actually break. Not with a dramatic manhunt, but with one department noticing that the people in front of them matter to another case somewhere else. Fremont explicitly thanked Hayward police for the partnership, which is a clue that the handoff was central, not incidental. ### Bottom line? The news here is simple but important: Fremont now has two named suspects in a February killing that had been hanging open in public view. (fremontpolice.gov) The odd twist is that the break came from a trespassing call in another city — a reminder that homicide cases often turn on routine police work, not spectacle.