Santa Clara County Sheriff says man with knife charged at deputies before he was shot and killed
South Bay sheriff provides details in deputies fatal shooting of knife-wielding man
Santa Clara County Sheriff Bob Jonsen on Tuesday provided the details to events that led to an hours-long standoff and then fatal shooting of a suspect involving two deputies.
SAN JOSE, Calif. - A man, allegedly armed with a knife, was fatally shot by Santa Clara County sheriff's deputies during a traffic stop in San Jose Monday evening, police say.
The San Jose Police Department is now investigating the shooting.
What we know:
The SJPD said the shooting happened at 7:33 p.m.
KTVU reached out to a spokesperson from the sheriff's department who initially confirmed the location of the shooting near Fruitdale and Leigh avenues. That spokesperson said the San Jose Police Department was handling the investigation.
Sheriffs deputies fatally shoot man armed with knife during San Jose traffic stop, police say
A man, allegedly armed with a knife, was fatally shot by Santa Clara County sheriffs deputies during a traffic stop in San Jose Monday evening, police say. The San Jose Police Department said the shooting happened at 7:33 p.m.
Police said the suspect was taken to a local hospital where he died from his injuries.
Police posted to social media shortly after 11 p.m. to say street closures were in place as the investigation remains active and ongoing.
Dig deeper:
A day after the shooting, Santa Clara County Sheriff Bob Jonsen said a traffic stop conducted by one of his deputies within San Jose's jurisdiction initiated a two-hour stand-off with the suspect.
The sheriff said the suspect allegedly charged at deputies while armed with a large knife. Two deputies shot and killed the man, who has not yet been identified. Officials said the coroner will release his identity once his family is notified.
During the standoff, sheriff's deputies fired non-lethal pepper balls, then rubber bullets, before ultimately using lethal force to stop the suspect who they say was wielding a knife.
Alleged weapon that was being carried by the suspect before he was shot and killed by two Santa Clara County sheriff's deputies.
"We always aspire for a perfect outcome and unfortunately, that's not always possible," Sheriff Jonsen said on Tuesday as he outlined the series of events from the night before.
Investigators said the suspect was stopped in his red Hyundai for driving erratically.
The sheriff said his deputies called the suspect on his cell phone. They also used a drone and repeated commands in two languages to exit the car.
The pepper balls were used to drive the suspect out of the car, but it didn't work. Another round was deployed and that's when officials said he got out and was wielding a large knife and charged at the deputies.
The deputies who opened fire, killing the the suspect, were a 24-year-veteran and a 9-year-veteran.
What they're saying:
Brent Malloy, a neighbor we spoke with, said there's always something going on at this intersection.
Another resident, Mike Medina, said he witnessed the standoff. He was curious and documented the lengthy encounter.
"He was uncooperative. He'll get out, they'll arrest him and haul him away, but he didn't respond. He certainly wasn't responding to the commands," Medina said.
Medina said the suspect probably made it three steps before the deputies opened fire. "And he goes down," he said. "I didn't think he was running at them. and he certainly wasn't that close. My perspective, I'm not the officers. Why didn't they send a K-9 in?"
"He was running at the deputies. There's no misunderstanding in my mind what his intention was," Sheriff Jonsen said.
The sheriff said the K-9 wasn't available Monday night. "I personally believe that would have been another option for us to utilize," Jonsen said.
As far as other less-than lethal weapons are concerned, Tasers were removed as a tool by the sheriff's department years ago.
Medina said he was shaken by the loss of life and hopes a deep dive will lead to a different approach that may prevent a suspect's death.
"I just wish they didn't have to shoot him," said Medina.
Local perspective:
On Christmas Day in 2018 in an unrelated case in the same area, San Jose police mistakenly chased the wrong car that ended with 24-year-old Jenny Vasquez of San Jose dead.
Officers began following Vasquez's car after thinking it was stolen after running the license plate through their system.
During a 7-minute chase with police, Vasquez lost control of the car and crashed into a chain-link fence in the area of Fruitdale and Leigh avenues next to Sherman Oaks Elementary School.
Police said Vasquez then allegedly drove backward and forward in an effort to remove the car from the fence, eventually positioning the vehicle to ram into a patrol car, when police fatally shot her. Police were cleared of any criminal wrongdoing.
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