Alleged ax-wielder shot to death by San Jose police

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An ax-wielding man yelled “shoot me” and “kill me” before running at San Jose police officers and being shot to death, authorities said Wednesday.

Employees at Metcalf Energy Center called 911 at about 5 p.m. Tuesday to report a suspicious man in a Mercedes at the front gate of the power plant, Police Chief Eddie Garcia said at a news conference. Within minutes of the call, the man allegedly hopped the fence onto the property.

When officers arrived on scene, they discovered a large sword in the front seat of the Mercedes before tracking down the suspect, who was allegedly in possession of an ax, a six-foot pipe, pepper spray and throwing stars.

Two minutes after police spotted the man walking with an ax, according to dispatch recordings, officers reported shots fired. The suspect was commanded to drop his weapons at least “23 times,” Garcia said.

“No one really knows what he was thinking, but toward the final confrontation he was telling officers to ‘shoot him’ and ‘kill him’ with an ax in hand,” Garcia said.

The man’s name is being withheld until next of kin can be notified by the Santa Clara County Coroner’s Office, but Garcia noted that the suspect was in his mid to late 20s.

Both officers fired at least one round and were wearing body cameras. They have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.

The suspect, who was struck at least once and pronounced dead at the scene, had a warrant in Santa Cruz County for an alleged weapons violation. He also had a history of narcotic offenses, weapons violations and resisting arrest. He was placed on a 72-hour psychiatric hold last September, Garcia said.

Authorities noted that the suspect had no known connection to Metcalf Energy Center, which provides power to the San Jose area and is owned by Houston-based power company Calpine. No employees were injured in the incident, said Brett Kerr, a company spokesman.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office will investigate the case and review footage from the officers’ body cameras, Garcia said, noting that this is the city’s first police shooting in 2018.

“It’s a sad case,” Garcia said. “There is no winner here. I know my officers were shaken by it. I have no doubt that this individual’s family will be shaken by it.”

The timing of the shooting came just a day before San Jose police announced a self-funded study that found there were no significant racial disparities in the department’s use of force involving white, black, Latino and Asian suspects, according to data compiled from 2015 and 2016.

However, the report also concluded that the department had a higher average rate of using weapons, including firearms and batons, compared to other cities.

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani