Homicide Suspect Killed in 7th Officer-Involved Shooting of 2015

San Jose police shot and killed a man who allegedly reached for a handgun during a confrontation over the weekend, marking the third officer-involved shooting (OIS) in eight days.

Two officers fired at the homicide suspect just after 10pm Sunday outside of a Senter Road strip mall, according to the San Jose Police Department.

There have been seven OIS incidents so far in 2015, four of which were fatal. Of the five officer-involved shootings in 2014, two were fatal.

The shootings that occurred earlier this month took place over a six-hour span the weekend prior. One ended with the suspect apparently committing suicide.

According to police, two officers shot at AJ Phillips, 30, when he pointed a gun at them on Aug. 9. He then barricaded himself inside a house, where police say they found him dead hours later.

In a separate incident that same night, police gunned down 22-year-old stabbing suspect Edrian Rivera.

San Jose police have not been involved in this many shootouts since 2011, when there were eight.

9 Comments

  1. Gunned down? How sad that a Twitter message is less dramatic and sensational than a supposed legitimate news organization.

    Shootout? Wouldn’t that require someone to be be shooting at the police… Which also is inaccurate in some of the shootings. SJI used to be considered a more rational Murky Mews (aside from it’s METRO evil twin), apparently Koehn’s desire to editorialize is now greater than the responsibility to report honestly.

    It would be fair and informative to state that Santa Clara County doesn’t use the Grand Jury to determine legality, as is a hot button activist issue lately. More importantly, none of San Jose’s shooting have been found to be improper by the District Attorney.

  2. “Gunned down”? Exceedingly opinionated choice of words, showing SJI’s anti-police bias. Perhaps “Silicon Valley Newsroom” should change its name to “Silicon Valley Opinion Room.”

    • …but if Josh changed his ambiguous byline wouldn’t he have to post his yellow journalism in a section called ‘opinion” instead of “news”?

  3. The police force is probably the most sought after occupation among serial killers and psychopaths. A license to kill , easier to join and harder to get kicked out of than the military.

    • > The police force is probably the most sought after occupation among serial killers and psychopaths. A license to kill , easier to join and harder to get kicked out of than the military.

      I would have said Planned Parenthood.

    • STACY, next time you need help in a life and death situation. Please do not call upon the Police. You do not want personal “you call”, psychopathic serial killers to help you. Just call another Criminal to assist you or they may join in on your plight!

    • Ms. Stacy,

      I won’t insult you by pretending to take anything you said seriously. Cops are the most heavily screened and scrutinized public servants extant. Police candidates must pass a pre-employment written test, oral interview and physical agility test. They undergo a thorough background investigation, often taking months to complete, including drug and alcohol tests; polygraph tests; criminal, financial and academic records reviews and interviews with friends and associates (some of whom would be considered “hostile witnesses” in court) that can go back a decade or more. If the candidate passes ALL this, they are put through a Police Academy, lasting several months, where they are constantly evaluated and scrutinized on literally an hourly basis, and where they receive daily written evaluations. If they pass, then they are assigned to a Field Training Officer program where they are scrutinized, evaluated and receive DAILY written reviews.

      If they successfully pass all the hiring and training processes previously mentioned, they are then allowed to work as a probationary rookie officer. During the probationary period (usually at least 1 year) they are given continual written evaluations until they complete a probationary period, within which they can be fired for even the slightest infraction or mistake. After all this, they will continue to receive yearly written evaluations, which must be satisfactory or exemplary for the duration of their careers. An officer’s behavior is constantly scrutinized by sergeants and command rank officers and internal discipline (not turning reports in on time, being late for work or court etc.) is often handed out like candy on Halloween.

      Notwithstanding the hiring and training processes, every action a police officer takes throughout his career, particularly when force is used or racial bias (even completely unsupported) is alleged, such actions are reviewed by an officer’s immediate supervisor and up his chain of command ( sergeant; lieutenant , captain, deputy chief, assistant chief, and Chief of Police) and by the Internal Affairs Unit. Following this, and/or concurrent with these levels of scrutiny and review, any action an officer takes (particularly when force is used or racial bias is alleged) is potentially also reviewed by the district attorney’s office; a local Grand Jury; a Federal Grand Jury; the State Attorney General and Dept. of Justice and the Federal Attorney General and Dept. of Justice and the FBI (Civil Rights Division). Even if an officer’s actions were determined to have been completely justifiable and proper by all the entities heretofore mentioned, an officer can and often is sued in civil court.

      Those above mentioned are just the official investigative entities that review an officer’s actions, actions he was often forced to take in a split second where the problem itself, much less the solution, was not readily apparent. There are other less official but often more destructive means of review, such as the media; various activist groups; and politicians that jump in with their vilifications and condemnations of an officer’s action, even though such persons or groups have little or no facts to support their opprobrium.

      Ms. Stacy, it would seem that the truth refutes your contention that serial killers and psychopath are drawn to police work and that a police department is easy to join and hard to be kicked out of. However, if there is any place that it is easy to join and easy to get out of, and that is populated by serial killers and psychopaths, surely it must be the psychiatric hospital from which you escaped.

  4. Glad to have our officers back here in Almaden. We really missed them.

    Sorry Stacy is so negative! Some day, she will need one as her home is being broken into.

    We in Almaden Valley are so grateful to have them back!

    Our http://www.nextdoor.com community for Almaden is full of grateful comments…

  5. The C.O.s have always beaten inmates I thought they had to film any action involving COs and inmates. I have seen COs rush in a cell 5 deep and beat inmates badly.Some officers work two or three shifts of overtime, How is it they can legally
    work so much overtime. I have seen officers tell inmates that if they didn’t fly right they get their ass kicked.And a few times i have seen officers sleep
    on their shifts Some officers need to be drug tested because they have to be on drugs with there
    Mood Swings I can tell u more about how officers and how
    they use major force

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