On Thursday morning, a man was shot and killed behind the wheel of a stolen minivan after allegedly entering a home in San Jose and stabbing three residents. The suspect led police on a chase through residential streets and the wrong way on Interstate 680 before finally crashing into a yard on a suburban cul-de-sac.
The incident began around 10:30 am on Thanksgiving morning when the suspect allegedly stabbed three people in an apartment complex near the Regional Medical Center of San Jose. The suspect then hijacked a minivan about two blocks away. According to the Mercury News, the chase began after an SJPD officer tried to pull the minivan over with a street stop. The suspect drove the wrong way on I-680 before hitting neighborhood surface streets again, swerving and doing 60 to 70 mph, according to neighbor Joy Yap who was driving to breakfast at the time and thought the guy might be a drunk driver. Yap described the chase:
The chase came to an abrupt halt when the suspect made a wrong turn onto a short cul-de-sac on Kirk Glen Drive. A San Jose PD officer blocked the street with his patrol car, which the suspect quickly rammed with the stolen minivan. The officer fired off "at least one shot," hitting the driver and causing him to crash into a truck parked on the street before hitting a tree. The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.
The stabbing victims from the earlier incident at the apartment complex were taken to a hospital to be treated for serious injuries. They are expected to survive. They two male victims and one female victim had not been identified Thursday, but police and witnesses believe they may have known the suspect.
NBC Bay Area has the on-the-scene report from last night:
The officer, who reportedly has 10 years experience, has been put on administrative leave per standard procedure.
The crime spree also capped off a fairly violent holiday in San Jose: in another "random" shooting a young couple was shot at four or five times while sitting on their porch around 4 a.m.
