San Jose police exchanged gunfire with a man early Friday during a welfare check to his home, but no one was injured.
Just before 5 a.m., dispatchers received a call from the family of a 45-year-old man who was threatening suicide. Two officers arrived at the home near the intersection of Ross and Leigh avenues to find the man standing in his front yard, armed with a handgun.
For a half-hour, the officers attempted to negotiate with the man to put down his gun, Interim Police Chief Paul Joseph said at a press briefing Friday evening. Then, the man put the gun under his chin.
Officers warned the man to put down the gun, at which point he fired a shot at a police drone that was flying overhead. Officers then fired a 40 millimeter “less-lethal” projectile, hitting the man, who then turned the gun on them.
Believing their lives were in danger, the officers fired their guns at the man. He was struck with a non-lethal projectile and fell back on the ground, then sat up and fired at the officers. In response, the two officers fired their guns at the man — but no one was hit, Joseph said.
“Bullets moving only inches from where they flew could have resulted in a completely different outcome,” Joseph said.
Additional officers arrived on scene, and they helped the two officers to take the man into custody at 6:26 a.m.
This is the first officer-involved shooting of 2024, and the fourth time that an officer has been shot at in the last year.
“This incident highlights the challenges officers face attempting to peacefully resolve a situation, where an individual likely grappling with mental health issues and armed with a handgun pointed at both the officers and himself,” Joseph said. “Throughout this ordeal, the restraint officers used was extraordinary. The officers used their training and placed their own lives in danger to keep talking with (the man) in the hopes of having a peaceful resolution.”
The man, a San Jose resident, had six firearms registered to him.
At the press conference, Mayor Matt Mahan expressed gratitude to the two officers who initially responded to the scene.
“It’s a reminder of how dangerous the job is, the incredible courage our police officers have to have every day to do their jobs, and how committed we are to best-in-class training,” he said.
The incident is yet another example of the “complicated interplay of mental health issues and public safety in our community,” the mayor said.
“It’s clear we have a lot of work to do in San Jose and across California, in investing in mental health care… and making sure that people get help,” Mahan said. It fits with a larger pattern of untreated mental health issues in the community.”