San Jose police investigate shooting death of Vietnam veteran
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KTVU) - San Jose police need help finding the person who killed a Vietnam veteran.
Right now, they tell KTVU, they are stuck and have no leads. Nearly, a week has passed already, and they fear the case is getting cold.
The shooting happened Friday evening, in a mobile home park which caters to those 55 and up. Plenty of people were home.
Police want to encourage them to come forward. They say even the littlest detail might help solve the case.
Though he only had sight in one eye, and walked with a cane, 61-year old Danh Nguyen didn't let anything slow him down.
In fact, he spent most days walking around Woodbridge, the mobile home park where he lived, and to the nearby shops.
"He was at Target. One of the photos that we gave you guys, with the cane, he was just walking home from Target and he gets gunned down," says Sgt. Enrique Garcia with the San Jose Police Department.
It happened Friday evening on Oakbridge Drive, inside the mobile home park. Nguyen was shot multiple times and died, just a block from home.
"All at once I heard gunshots. And I knew it was gunshots because I knew it wasn't fireworks," says neighbor Jean Burkhardt.
Neighbors give mixed accounts of what they saw that day, of how many cars or gunmen there might have been.
Still they can't imagine why Danh Nguyen would be targeted. They talk about a soft-spoken, religious man, who was a Vietnam veteran, having served with the Republic of Vietnam Airborne Division, Angels in Red Hats.
"Did somebody just come in and decide to shoot somebody that was walking? Or was there a real reason for shooting this man?" says Burkhardt.
Right now there are few answers. San Jose Police say they have no leads and are in desperate need of witnesses.
"We don't know if the suspect or suspects were in a car. We don't know if they were on foot, on a bike. We have nothing. Here's the bottom line: somebody out there knows," says Sgt. Garcia.
Nguyen had big plans. He was going to move to Iowa to be near his son. Now his son has come here to plan his funeral.
Police believe fear may be keeping people in the tightknit community from coming forward. They hope that changes.
"If we don't do something about this, who's going to be next? I'm not trying to instill fear but the fact is these people think they just got away with murder. And so far they have. So what are we going to do about it?" says Garcia.
Police say this should be a call to action. You can call the homicide unit at 408-277-5283. Or, tipsters can remain anonymous by calling the Crimestoppers line at 408-947-STOP (7867).