San Jose police officer critically hurt, 2nd officer injured in shooting; suspect also shot
A San Jose officer was in critical condition following a shootout with a domestic violence suspect on Thursday night in the city's Santa Teresa neighborhood, police said.
Around 10:30 p.m. Thursday, officers were looking into a reported disturbance at the Extended Stay America hotel on the 6100 block of San Ignacio Avenue when they contacted a man who allegedly shot at them. Two of the officers were hit, prompting them to return fire. Police then captured the armed man, who was also struck during the gunfire exchange.
At a press conference Friday afternoon, San Jose Interim Police Chief Paul Joseph said officers had little clue what they were walking into aside from the ordinary call of a disturbance and information that someone needed help.
"In this case, a mother and children were sheltering on the other side of a thin motel door from a known man who had recently committed violence on them," said Joseph. "Like countless times before, our officers responded and placed themselves in between vulnerable people and a violent individual. In this case, moments after contacting this individual, he produced a handgun, opened fire, and nearly succeeded in killing two officers."
Silas Ohene-Nyako, a guest at the hotel, said he heard some of the gunshots from his room.
"It sounded like a pow, pow thing. About four times, yeah," Ohene-Nyako told CBS News Bay Area.
Ohene-Nyako, who was staying at the hotel as he receives cancer treatment at a local hospital, was told to shelter in place by police.
"Stay in your room, be safe. Don't open your door, just stay in," he recalled.
The injured officers and the suspect were sent to local hospitals. Around 5 a.m., San Jose police said on social media that one of the injured officers had been treated and released from the hospital. The other officer and the suspect have stabilized but were still in critical condition, according to police.
Joseph said the more seriously injured officer has one year of experience and is expected to survive. The officer who was treated and released has three and a half years experience.
Joseph said the woman had reported to the hotel front desk she believed a person she had a restraining order against was headed to her location. Officers arrived at the 3rd-floor room and encountered a man who matched the description of the suspect holding a duffel bag. Joseph said despite officers' commands, he reached into a duffel bag, pulled out gun and began shooting within a minute of being contacted by officers.
The man ran away from officers while continuing to fire and at least one officer returned fire, Joseph said. He then broke through a plate glass window and jumped from a 3rd-floor hallway to the ground; he was found hiding outside of an adjacent property minutes later. A loaded, stolen handgun was found at the scene, Joseph said.
Authorities later determined that the mother was the recent victim of a domestic violence attack and there was an arrest warrant out for the suspect in connection with that attack, Joseph said. She was hiding out in the hotel with her three children, ages 8, 10 and 15.
It was unclear if the mother and the children were living at the hotel to stay away from the suspect or how he found them there.
The suspect was identified as Kevin Briones, 33, with an extensive criminal history and two felony warrants for his arrest. Joseph said Briones is also prohibited from owning firearms because of felony convictions and was on active probation from Santa Clara County.
After the shootout, police shut down San Ignacio Avenue from Bernal Road to Great Oaks Boulevard. Westbound Bernal Road was also closed from Monterey Road to San Ignacio Avenue.
Bay City News contributed to this report.