Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Deputies Fatally Shoot Man

Santa Clara County Sheriff’s deputies fatally shot a man they say charged at them with a knife, following a traffic stop and hourslong standoff in San José Monday night.

Many details about the incident are still unclear, but Sheriff Robert Jonsen commended his deputies for their work and efforts to find a peaceful outcome before the shooting.

Around 7:30 p.m., sheriff’s deputies stopped a car near the intersection of Fruitdale Avenue and Leigh Avenue, near the city’s Rose Glen neighborhood, for a traffic stop, though the exact reason for the stop was not clarified by authorities.

“The driver immediately began behaving erratically and refused to comply with commands, barricading himself inside the car,” a Tuesday morning statement from the sheriff’s office said.

During a more than two-hour standoff, the sheriff’s office says deputies gave the man, who has not been identified, “repeated verbal commands and attempted to de-escalate the situation.”

Jonsen said deputies also communicated with the man via cell phone, and that members of the Sheriff’s Psychiatric Emergency Response Team were also called in to assist. Jonsen said it’s possible the man was having a mental health crisis and may have been affected by alcohol, but said further investigation is needed to know for sure.

The deputies eventually fired pepper balls into the car in an attempt to get the man to exit.

Later, the man emerged with a knife, and deputies fired more pepper balls and rubber bullets at him, and he got back into the car. He then re-emerged with the knife and charged at the deputies, Jonsen said, and they fatally shot him.

“From a command management standpoint, I commend my personnel. I think they did a phenomenal job trying to take advantage of every resource available to them out there at the scene for a peaceful outcome,” Jonsen said Tuesday afternoon during a press conference.

“My condolences to all. But sometimes that peaceful outcome just doesn’t happen.”

A 2023 investigation from KQED, the Bay Area News Group and the California Reporting Project found that the vast majority of people seriously injured or killed by police in San José were either mentally ill or intoxicated.

“Numerous attempts were made to slow the situation and bring it to a peaceful resolution,” the sheriff’s office said.

The deputies began life-saving efforts on the man as paramedics arrived, and he was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 10:16 p.m., the sheriff’s office said.

Jonsen didn’t identify the two deputies who shot the man, but said one of the deputies has 24 years of experience, and the other has nine years of experience, and both have been “trained extensively, especially in crisis negotiation and crisis incident command.”

The man “had plenty of opportunities to comply, to exit the vehicle peacefully and be taken into custody,” Jonsen said.

“I think there was a moment where we thought that was going to be the outcome. It turned quickly once he exited the vehicle with the knife.”

Jonsen said there is “tremendous coverage” of the shooting because all the deputies on scene had body-worn cameras activated, and there was a drone overhead for much of the duration of the incident.

Because the shooting occurred in San José, the San José Police Department is leading the investigation, the sheriff’s office said.

San José Police Department Assistant Chief Brian Shab said police have had prior contact with the man, but didn’t offer details.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office will conduct an independent review of the incident.