San Jose police: Man fatally shot by officer was carrying replica handgun

SAN JOSE — A man who was fatally shot by police after being seen with a gun at an East San Jose shopping plaza Thursday afternoon was actually carrying a replica handgun, according to San Jose police.

The copycat handgun was designed to look like a Beretta pistol, according to police, who released an image of the weapon Friday.

Officers were called at 2:26 p.m. to the 2300 block of McKee Road near Jackson Avenue, after someone reported seeing a man casually holding a handgun in front of the 24-Hour Fitness that recently occupied a former Kohl’s site there.

“Male is holding a handgun. He is just holding it, making clicking noises,” a dispatcher broadcast, according to online audio archives that were corroborated by authorities.

Responding officers spotted the man, described as wearing a black San Francisco Giants baseball cap and a black shirt, walking north on Jackson Avenue along the edge of the shopping plaza. One officer told dispatchers that the suspect was “continuing to walk away from us.”

A police news release issued Friday stated that officers “gave the suspect verbal commands to stop and drop the gun,” and the man reportedly defied them and put the replica gun in his waistband. The man crossed Jackson Avenue to the west side of the street, spurring officers’ fears that he might be walking to the nearby Independence High School, police said.

Police officials, and officers at the scene both contend that the man “appeared to be drawing his gun.”

As the suspect walked toward Tomlin Way and Rinehart Drive, at 2:32 p.m. an officer reported into his radio, “Shots fired. Shots fired … He was reaching for the gun.”

The wounded man was rushed to the hospital — Regional Medical Center is located about a block away from the site — where he died from his injuries. His name has not been released pending his formal identification and notification of his next of kin.

Police confirmed that one officer opened fire, and has been placed on paid administrative leave, as a routine shooting investigation is opened by SJPD homicide detectives and the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. The investigation will be monitored by the SJPD internal affairs unit, the City Attorney’s Office, and the city’s Office of the Independent Police Auditor.

No officers were injured during the encounter, which marked the third police shooting in San Jose this year. The last two, in February and in May, also resulted in fatalities. There were virtually no traces of the crime scene Friday morning other than some remnants police tape that had cordoned off a block of Jackson Avenue for most of the previous afternoon.

Anyone with information about the case can contact Detective Sgt. Isidro Bagon or Detective Ramon Sanchez in the SJPD homicide unit at 408-277-5283 or leave a tip with Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408-947-7867 or at svcrimestoppers.org. Tipsters may be eligible for a cash reward.

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