Deadly police shooting at Santa Clara gas station after employee begins 'indiscriminately shooting'

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A San Jose man started a fire inside the Cupertino gas station where he is employed before driving to one of the company's other locations, this one in Santa Clara, where he fired gunshots in the parking lot and inside the store before being shot dead by police, according to the Santa Clara Police Department.

Authorities said initial calls came in around 5:40 a.m. regarding a "heavily armed male indiscriminately shooting in the parking lot" of a Rotten Robbie's gas station on Lafayette Street and Aldo Avenue, near Highway 101.

Officers arrived within minutes and say they could hear and see the suspect shooting inside the store. The store had several bullet holes in the window. The suspect was shot and killed inside the convenience store, authorities said. 

The suspect's name has not yet been released. He's being identified as a 55-year-old resident of San Jose.

Investigators said the suspect traveled to a different Rotten Robbie's gas station in the 19000 block of Stevens Creek Boulevard in Cupertino--where he is employed--and set a fire in the cashier's kiosk before leaving the business.

Santa Clara Police Capt. Wahid Kazem told KTVU that there was no threat to the community afterwards. "The suspect is deceased, there were no injuries to civilians," he said. There were no officers injured either 

Kazem said that the police department's last officer-involved shooting was on Sept. 9. The last fatal officer-involved shooting was on March 9, 2017. 

A joint investigation is on-going involving the District Attorney’s Office. Anyone who may have witnessed this incident or has information pertaining to this incident is asked to contact Sergeant Alex Torke at (408) 615-4806.