UPDATE: San Jose Police Release Images from Scene of Officer-Involved Shooting
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- Police in San Jose on Monday released multiple images from the scene of an officer-involved shooting early Sunday morning that showed what officers encountered when they arrived at a taqueria where a suspect was reportedly armed.
The San Jose Police Deparment Public Information Officer Twitter account posted the images, stating that SJPD Chief Mata would be providing additional information on the officer-involved shooting and the homicide that also happened in the area of South Fourth and East San Carlos streets
"This is a body worn camera still of what our Officer encountered," the first post read. The image showed a man holding a handgun in his left hand in a doorway.
Subsequent tweets showed additional photos of what appeared to be surveillance images from inside the La Victoria Taqueria showing the same man involved in some sort of struggle with three or four other individuals.
"We will correct some misinformation that has been circulating and are releasing images of the fight and struggle over a handgun that occurred inside the La Victoria Restaurant and of the individual who was holding the handgun at the time he was shot by one of our Officers," the second tweet in the thread said.
2/ We will correct some misinformation that has been circulating and are releasing images of the fight and struggle over a handgun that occurred inside the La Victoria Restaurant and of the individual who was holding the handgun at the time he was shot by one of our Officers. pic.twitter.com/I3b9CPT73D
— San José Police Media Relations (@SJPD_PIO) March 29, 2022
The San Jose Mercury News had reported Monday afternoon that, according to sources, police had shot a man who had disarmed a second man during a fight inside the taqueria.
Earlier, police confirmed the fatal shooting in downtown San Jose early Sunday morning was not connected to a nearby officer-involved shooting that happened minutes later outside a taqueria.
Spokesman Sgt. Christian Camarillo said a suspect was seen fleeing toward the San Jose State University campus after a man was found shot dead at South Fourth and East San Carlos streets at about 2:44 a.m. A suspect description was still not available Monday.
Camarillo said the shooting appeared to be an isolated incident.
"We do not believe there is an ongoing threat to public safety," said Camarillo at a Monday press conference. "The circumstances and motive are still under investigation."
A short time after the first shooting at around 3:11 a.m., officers processing the shooting scene saw people fleeing from La Victoria Taqueria, which is about a block away on East San Carlos Street. Arriving officers saw a man pointing a gun at someone and opened fire, hitting the suspect who is expected to survive.
Camarillo said detailed information on the officer-involved shooting would be provided by Chief Anthony Mata on Wednesday.
While unrelated, the shootings within minutes of each other put a strain on police resources during the early morning hours Sunday, Camarillo said. It was also unusual to have two totally separate crime scenes so physically close together.
"Needless to say, I mean, two major incidents right around the corner from each other within minutes of each other," said Camarillo. "In my 24 years, I've never been a part of anything like that. Certainly, you know, different parts of the city but, I mean, right around the corner. You could literally take 100 paces, and you're in one scene to the other."
The homicide victim's identity was still pending the notification of his family. It was the city's fourth homicide of 2022. Both shootings were across the street from the SJSU campus.
"The school was pretty quick about sending text messages and emails to stay out of the area," said current SJSU student Travis Wynn. "I'm not too concerned with it. There's a lot of police around downtown San Jose. The police station isn't too far."
The university is on spring break this week, so most students are not on campus. But staff released a statement acknowledging the shootings over the weekend.
"San José State University takes the well-being and safety of all our students, faculty, staff and the general public seriously," the statement said. "No one affiliated with the campus community was injured."
As of Monday morning, police said they did not know if anyone involved in either shooting had a connection to SJSU.
"It's a lot better than it used to be. San Jose was a lot worse 10, 20 years ago," Wynn told KPIX 5.
Shawn Chitnis contributed to this story.