SAN JOSE — A Thanksgiving that already saw two overnight shootings grew grimmer Thursday after a man suspected of stabbing three people and carjacking a van was shot to death by police after he reportedly rammed an officer’s car in his haste to escape, according to the San Jose Police Department.

The deadly shooting capped a volatile chase covering a tight one-mile radius in East San Jose that included wrong-way driving on the freeway and weaving through a quiet suburban roadway at highway speeds.

It all began about 10:35 a.m. when a man is suspected of stabbing three people at an apartment complex in the 2100 block of Luz Avenue, nestled behind Regional Medical Center of San Jose. The assailant then made his way to the 100 block of Jackson Avenue, where he apparently hijacked a van.

A patrol officer listening to the fracas unfold over the radio spotted the van in the area and tried to perform a street stop, but the suspect kept driving, prompting a chase that briefly went the wrong way on Interstate 680 before it resurfaced on city streets at Mabury Road.

Fatal shooting

Neighborhood resident Joy Yap was driving on Mabury on the way to breakfast when she was nearly run off the road by the zig-zagging van, which she estimated was traveling between 60 and 70 mph.

“We thought he was just drunk. When he got close to us, we moved away from him,” Yap said. “Seconds after he passed, two police cars went by us.”

About an hour later, upon returning to the scene, Yap learned what she had partially witnessed.

“We came back here, wondering why are there news reporters everywhere,” said Yap, “and learned that guy’s been shot.”

The suspect made an ill-fated turn into a cul-de-sac on Kirk Glen Drive, where the officer blocked him in. That’s when police say the suspect rammed the patrol vehicle, prompting the officer to fire at least one shot from his service weapon. The driver was hit, and the van rolled into a home. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The officer, who police said had more than 10 years experience with SJPD, was placed on administrative leave — a standard procedure after officer-involved shootings — pending an investigation monitored by the District Attorney’s Office. The investigation, as usual, will be spearheaded by homicide detectives.

Sealed area

Sgt. Heather Randol said the stabbing victims from the attack that preceded the police chase were taken to the hospital with serious injuries but are expected to survive. Police and witnesses said two men and a woman were injured in the stabbing and that they may have known the suspect, whose name was not released Thursday.

The cul-de-sac and an adjacent segment of Mabury Road, just west of North White Road, was sealed off as a crime scene, separating residents from family members who were corralled by the police boundaries. Several people waited just outside the crime tape for hours, anxious about when they might be able to return to their homes and carry on with their Thanksgiving plans.

Meanwhile, at the site of the stabbings on Luz Avenue, police worked well into Thursday afternoon gathering evidence — including bloodstained clothing — in an open courtyard at the apartment complex.

The violence comes on the heels of two separate shootings overnight in San Jose, one south of downtown and another in East San Jose, near East San Antonio Street, that injured three people. None of those injuries were deemed to be life- threatening.

Anyone with information about Thursday’s crime activity can leave a tip with Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408-947-STOP (7867) or with svcrimestoppers.org.

Contact Robert Salonga at 408-920-5002. Follow him at Twitter.com/robertsalonga.