A San Jose man barricaded himself in an apartment with three hostages Wednesday night, with two children among the hostages, and police shot and killed the suspect after a three-hour standoff.
A bizarre hostage situation unfolded in San Jose Wednesday night, barely a half mile from Santana Row on Boynton Avenue. A man armed with a machete allegedly barricaded himself in an apartment with several hostages, according to the Bay Area News Group, leading to a three-hour standoff that didn’t end until police shot him. The suspect died roughly two hours later.
The Bay Area News Group reports there are “at least two hostages ,” but a KTVU report from Thursday morning confirms there were “three hostages,” specifically, “one adult and two children.” It’s unclear what, if any, relationship the suspect had with the three hostages he took.
Units are currently working a hostage barricade involving an adult male armed with a machete in the 900 Block of Boynton Ave.
— San José Police Media Relations (@SJPD_PIO) March 23, 2023
Special operations personnel are on scene. We will provide updates as the become available.
TOC: 8:31 pm
Similarly, we still have no idea what led to all this. A San Jose Police Department division tweeted at 8:30 Tuesday night that “Units are currently working a hostage barricade involving an adult male armed with a machete in the 900 Block of Boynton Ave.”
KTVU spoke to a relative of the suspect whom he called to the scene. "He called me when everything was happening," the woman who simply identified herself as Cassandra said, adding that he asked, "Come get the dog ‘cause I’m in trouble," and that "things were about to happen."
She arrived to find the apartment swarmed by police. "I feel in shock because I didn't think he would ever be doing something like that," she told the station. "He had anger issues but I never thought he would do that."
3/ The hostages, including two children, were safely removed from the residence by Officers. The suspect has been pronounced deceased at a local hospital. No Officers were injured during the event.
— San José Police Media Relations (@SJPD_PIO) March 23, 2023
The investigation is still ongoing. More information will be provided in the…
Three hours into that standoff, at least one officer opened fire and shot the suspect. That did lead to all three hostages being removed safely for the scene. Though at 1:18 a.m. Thursday morning, the department tweed “The suspect has been pronounced deceased at a local hospital.”
“The investigation is still ongoing,” they added. “More information will be provided in the coming days.”
Related: Apartment Shootout In Brentwood Leaves Alleged Gunman And Possible Hostage Victim Injured [SFist]
Image: David von Diemar via Unsplash
