San Jose officer shoots, wounds man who had knife

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A San Jose police officer shot a man Friday who he said charged him with a knife after first brandishing it at other people and stabbing himself, authorities said.

The man, whose name was not released, was taken to a hospital and reported to be in serious condition.

Officers encountered him after being called at 12:35 p.m. to Lewis and Senter roads in the south part of town, where witnesses said he was threatening to slash people. When the first officer arrived, the man came at him and ignored commands to put down the weapon, officials said, prompting the officer to shoot him.

San Jose police last month also shot and wounded a naked man after a wild chase in which the man sideswiped cars while fleeing officers, and then allegedly pointed what they thought was a weapon at them. The presumed weapon turned out to be a caulking gun.

The city has had an uptick in violent crime in the past couple of years, with aggravated assaults up 17 percent from 2015 to 2016, and homicides up 57 percent during the same time period, according to department statistics.

Kevin Fagan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kfagan@sfchronicle.com