By Sharon Noguchi and Rick Hurd
San Jose Mercury News
SUNNYVALE, Calif. — The death of a man Saturday in a police encounter is the fifth time in eight years — and the fourth in three years — that someone has died at the hands of Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety officers.
On Sunday, more questions than answers remained about the shooting. Sunnyvale police refused to respond to calls.
A companion of the dead man, who has not been identified, remained at large after a six-hour search on Saturday. But it is unclear even of what he is suspected, besides fleeing from police.
The episode began about 4 p.m. Saturday, after a caller alerted two men in a black Jaguar XF sedan near a Motel 6 in the 800 block of W. Ahwanee Avenue. After officers arrived, two men fled on food, according to public safety Capt. Shawn Ahearn said in a statement. Those two men ran from police when officers approached them, Ahearn said, and went into a commercial complex in the 700 block of San Aleso Avenue.
One of the officers shot at least once during the chase, and one of the two men was hit. He was pronounced dead at the scene with two guns near him, one on his body and another in his backpack, Ahearn said. During the chase, Ahearn said, a fully loaded high-capacity magazine fell to the street
Police searched until around 11 p.m. in the neighborhood near Ferndale and Madrone avenues but never found the second suspect. On Saturday the department tweeted that it was seeking “a black male adult last seen wearing a red or orange shirt with blue jeans” in the area of West Ferndale Avenue and Borregas Avenue, about four blocks east of the shooting site.
Officers had been responding to a report of “suspicious circumstances” at the Motel 6 on West Ahwanee Avenue. The shooting occurred in the 700 block of San Aleso Avenue, just south of the Mathilda Avenue exit on Highway 101.
Ahearn said officers were responding to a call involving two men.
One of the men was shot, and one fled from police, he said.
No officers were injured, Ahearn said, adding that he didn’t know if the suspects had shot at police.
Police closed the street at North Mathilda and San Aleso Avenue about 5 p.m. An hour later, the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety issued a statement on Twitter confirming that one man had died and that officers were looking for “a black male adult last seen wearing a red or orange shirt with blue jeans” in the area of West Ferndale Avenue and Borregas Avenue, about four blocks east of the shooting site.
Police said late Saturday that they recovered a handgun next to the body of the deceased suspect and that the fleeing suspect was “believed to be armed and dangerous.”
Kat Walsh, a Mountain View attorney who was eating at a restaurant in the area, said diners there saw numerous police vehicles, ambulances and other public safety officials arrive.
“We saw the police with guns drawn, and the police were putting in their armor and heading to the building behind us,” she said. “And then we saw them take one guy into custody.”
The man taken into custody seemed to be in his 20s or 30s, she said.
“He didn’t look like he was resisting,” she said. “Once they had him cuffed, he was talking to the officers.”
Ahearn said that police had detained several other subjects as part of their investigation. As more information becomes available, police will make it public, he said.
The incident is the second time in recent months that a Sunnyvale police officer shot and killed a suspect.
On April 8, Sunnyvale police officer Benjamin Kroutil shot and killed Joseph Jeremy Weber, 28, an Army veteran reportedly dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Police said Weber had taken a pack of cigarettes at knifepoint from a clerk at Grewalz Liquor & Groceries at 1125 Tasman Drive. Kroutil was the first officer on scene responding to a 911 call, and he confronted the suspect in an alley outside.
Both the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety and Kroutil’s attorney said the suspect came toward the officer and refused to drop the knife.
Sunnyvale Capt. Jeffrey Hunter said at the time that investigators collected several cellphone videos recorded by witnesses, including at least one that reportedly captured the entire encounter, which Hunter said supported the police version of events. In April, the department said the video had been shared with prosecutors, but that there were no plans to release it publicly.
Anyone with information, including anything suspicious they may have witnesses, is urged to call the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety at 408-730-7110.
Copyright 2015 the San Jose Mercury News