Two San Jose, CA, officers responding to a disturbance at a hotel were shot Thursday night and one sustained life-threatening injuries. Friday afternoon one of the officers was reported to be in critical condition, according to the police department.
The second wounded officer was treated for moderate injuries and released from the hospital.
The officers responded to a dispute at a hotel around 10:30 p.m. and police told FOX2 that the man fired on officers first.
Interim Chief Paul Joseph, in a press conference streamed Friday afternoon by NBC Bay Area on social media, provided details of the shooting, the suspect, and why officers were called to the hotel.
“Yesterday, two San Jose Police officers did what we asked them to do in our city every day. They responded to a common and seemingly ordinary call of a disturbance at a hotel. They received relatively few details being relayed from a third person that someone needed help,” the interim chief said. “In this case, a mother and children were sheltering on the other side of a thin motel door from a known man who had recently committed violence on them.”
Joseph explained the suspected shooter was a convicted felon in possession of a stolen handgun.
A hotel clerk had called police on behalf of the woman locked inside the room with three children. According to the chief, the man outside her door was someone the woman had a restraining order against.
Once the officers arrived at the hotel, they saw a man matching the suspect’s description walking away from the hotel room and stopped him. At that point, he was holding a duffel bag.
The interim chief said the man was instructed not to continue reaching inside the bag, but he did anyway, produced a gun, fired on the officers as he ran away, jumped through a third-floor glass window, and fell to the ground outside the hotel. At least one officer returned fire, striking him before he jumped out the window.
The woman hiding in the hotel room with children ages 8, 10, and 15, was unharmed.
“I think the motives of a felon and abuser bringing a stolen gun to confront a brave survivor and children sheltering in a motel room are self-evident. It's clear to me that these lives were all in grave danger and these officers are the reason they survived this horrific and traumatic incident,” said Joseph.
“Only by the grace of God are we fortunate enough that those officers remain with us alive today,” he added.
