Updated 3:37 p.m. Tuesday
Plainclothes San José police officers exchanged gunfire after getting shot at by multiple people Monday night, police officials said.
The plainclothes officers were conducting an unrelated surveillance operation in the Olinder-McKinley neighborhood around 10:30 p.m. when they were confronted by two suspects who ultimately opened fire on them, San José Police Chief Paul Joseph said during a press conference Tuesday afternoon.
“This was a reckless and senseless act of gun violence in a residential neighborhood where hardworking families are returning home from work, putting their children to bed and winding down from a holiday weekend,” Joseph said. “Last night, two of our officers were victims in this cowardly attack. But it could have been anyone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
The special operations unit officers were at the intersection near Melbourne Boulevard and McLaughlin Avenue when they were confronted by two suspects in a vehicle indicating that they were armed, Joseph said. The officers continued through the intersection and pulled off of the road to call for backup from uniformed officers.
Joseph said the suspect vehicle then made a U-turn and drove toward the officers while at least one suspect opened fire. One officer got out of the unmarked police vehicle and returned fire before the suspect vehicle fled the scene.
Neither of the police officers sustained injuries, but their vehicle was hit multiple times, disabling its ability to safely pursue the suspects.
It remains unclear if either suspect was hit by gunfire. The officers were unable to activate body-worn cameras at the time of the event.
Joseph said that department detectives are working to identify the suspects and vehicle, and that he was “confident that justice will ultimately be served.”
“Addressing gun violence in San José will occupy the focus of this department’s attention for the foreseeable future,” he said. “We are determined to intervene and disrupt the trend of gun violence by preventing incidents like this from happening.”
This was the first officer-involved shooting in San José this year.
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