Neighbor Gave San Jose Shooting Suspect's Wife Refuge During Horrific Massacre
SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) – The neighbor living next door to the San Jose house where a man fatally shot four family members before killing himself Sunday night gave shelter to the shooting suspect's wife who managed to escape the horrific scene.
The quadruple murder-suicide happened at a home on the 500 block of Habbitts Court in San Jose Sunday evening.
Neighbor Alan Bui, who did not want to show his face, said he heard shouting and arguing before about half a dozen shots fired off rapidly.
"I heard gunshots and then I took my wife and kid into the master bedroom to hide," explained Bui.
That was when his neighbor -- who according to Bui is the wife of the shooting suspect -- climbed their shared fence and spotted his sliding glass door that was still open.
"The wife jumped the fence and ran into my house. And then she locked the door in my kid's room while we're in the master bedroom," said Bui. "And then I ran outside. I closed all the doors. And I saw him asking, looking for his wife. After I heard five shots or six shots."
Somebody called 9-1-1 while the wife stayed hidden. Bui said that the wife didn't say anything after running into his home.
"Oh, she didn't talk to me or anything. But I was kind of like upset. Because what are you doing running into this house? You shouldn't be, because I have a five-year-old here and she knows that," said Bui. "Why you coming into this house when your husband's chasing you, you know?"
San Jose police arrived to a chaotic scene. Two other people -- gunman's daughter and niece -- also managed to escape and gave officers clues about the carnage inside.
The officers could see inside that victims were wounded and moving, still alive at the time.
"So they decided with the help of our special operations division, they decided to effect a rescue," San Jose Police Sgt. Enrique Garcia. "And they actually rescued a man and a woman. They were transported to a hospital, where they died a short time later."
A few hours later, heavily armed officers detonated a concussion grenade and entered the house. They didn't know it at the time, but the gunman had already shot himself dead.
That was when authorities made the grim discovery: another two women were found fatally shot inside.
"I've been here for 27 years, and I don't remember an incident where four people were murdered. And it's just sad overall when you have something like this happen. It's terrible," said Garcia. "I can't imagine what the victims were going through the moment the suspect was shooting at them and killing them. And now for the surviving victim's families as well, they have to deal with the aftermath."
Garcia said that no more shots were fired after police arrived.
An investigation is ongoing and police have not determined a motive behind the shooting.
Bui said they were all part of one family and gave no clue about the impending violence.
"He's a fisherman. He's a very nice guy. I come home from work and he always say 'Hi!' to me and I say 'Hi!' to him. And when he goes fishing, he catches fish and would just come by and drop it off," said Bui.
Including Sunday's killings, there have been 19 homicides in San Jose this year. The Santa Clara County medical examiner's office will identify the suspect and the victims once their family members are contacted.