A 32-year-old man armed with a "ghost gun" shot at San Jose police and a passing car and pointed his weapon at other officers before he was shot and killed by multiple officers near San Jose’s Rose Garden last week, according to San Jose Police Chief Anthony Mata.
Mata said in a Jan. 21 police briefing that 32-year-old Robert Carter died while pointing a gun at officers after a crime spree that ended when multiple officers opened fire on him.
Robert Carter, who was shot and killed by San Jose police in gunfight Jan. 19.
San Jose Police photo
The fatal exchange occurred after a pursuit that began about 6pm Jan. 19 when a police helicopter crew spotted a stolen Toyota Camry in the area of Story and King roads.
Mata said Carter was the driver of the vehicle, who fled after seeing marked police vehicles and drove erratically in opposing lanes of traffic before going onto and off of highways and into the city of Santa Clara.
While on Monroe Street, Mata said Carter pulled up alongside a stopped vehicle with its door open and pointed a gun at the driver, who ran away.
Carter then entered the vehicle but was unable to drive off in it, so Carter went back to the stolen Camry and continued driving, eventually colliding with another vehicle that had two people inside in the area of Park Avenue and West Hedding Street in San Jose, according to Mata. The people in the vehicle that was hit by Carter suffered minor to moderate injuries, police said.
Mata said the suspect then got out of the vehicle and ran along Park Avenue with a gun in his hand and appeared to try to stop a passing car by pointing a gun at it, then fired the weapon in the direction of a vehicle as well as an approaching officer, who returned fire but did not hit him, the chief said.
Carter continued running toward West Hedding Street and allegedly pointed the gun at another officer, who fired at him and struck him at least once. He ended up in the front yard of a home and again pointed a gun at police, causing officers to open fire again, striking him multiple times..
Carter was taken to a hospital and succumbed to his injuries shortly after arriva, Mata said The gun he had was described by police as a "ghost gun" without a serial number. Carter was not allowed to possess a firearm because of prior felony convictions, the chief said.
Four officers shot at Carter after what Mata called "a series of crimes and violence." The four have been placed on paid administrative leave, as is standard procedure in officer-involved shootings. They were not identified by the chief.
The officers all had body-worn cameras, and footage from them will be released at a later date, he said.
The chief called the shooting, the first by San Jose police in 2022, "a traumatic incident for all involved" and said it is being jointly investigated by the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office and the San Jose police homicide unit.
Excellent job! Consequences of very bad behavior! Will we hear from Debug and all the other fringe radicals that control our politicians?
Amazingly there were people in the neighborhood who were placing makeshift dedications to this criminal on the sidewalk where he was killed!
It’s amazing how heartless you are with your comments about this man. He is still someone’s son, brother, father, uncle, someone’s family member. He was very loved and he loved in return. This man was living a lifestyle that is hard to get out of and he made decisions that were so wrong in so many ways. That does not make him evil, that makes him human. Thankfully there was no one else hurt in this incident. Robert’s life is gone but still you have no right to judge him. You didn’t know him or his struggles.
Don’t judge a man until you have been in his shoes! Don’t claim innocence because this could one day be your friend, your son, your family member. Only God is the last that will judge.
The items that were put out where he died is to give closure to family and friends who need closure and remember the man that he was…the good the bad and the ugly. I will love this man forever and it saddens me that he believed that he didn’t have any other choices.
My condolences to his family and friends that are hurting from this loss.
Those the man shot or pointed his gun at in order to steal their cars were also someone’s spouse, child or sibling, including the police officers.
Unless you know this man personally, don’t count him as a victim of circumstances beyond his control. I don’t know him personally either, but I am certain that the city is safer for his departure. As long as he lived, there was a chance that I or someone I know would unwittingly get in his way and become his next victim. We as ordinary citizens are defenseless against violent criminals because we aren’t allowed to carry weapons to protect ourselves.
You can’t be in favor of gun control (like I am) and take the side of someone who shot at police officers (or anyone, for that matter)
This bleeding heart liberal is happy to see this garbage off the streets.
Gee I wonder if Mr. Carter had purchased his mandatory San Jose gun owner insurance along with his mandatory felon on the street insurance. Maybe we should mandate homelessness insurance as well and let’s not forget about illegal alien insurance to cover the city’s cost of being a sanctuary city infested with Covid.
Fortunately for the SJPD Mr. Carter was not black and the city or its residents will not incur the cost of a BLM/ANTIFA riot, lawsuits, and subsequent monument erection into this unfortunate model citizen tragic death.
my momma would always say the same thing when she saw tattoos near the face
ahhh… “a mother’s nightmare”
seems the like the grim reaper’s clock starts ticking once the ink is dry on neck and face tattoos. I am sure this man’s actions has lead to much heartbreak and nightmares to his family for quite a few years already
so unless you want to break your mother’s heart, and you feel like you relate to this man’s choices or are on his path, retrace your steps and change your path, sure you probably ain’t gonna run Google but make it to 30 at the least. your brain is not physically developed until then and you do not have the executive control to walk yourself back out of bad situations – either with cops or fellow thugs. just work a job, stay home and play video games, probably the best thing for your mother is to move away from your adolescent friends.
young men out there – just make it to 30 before you ruin your life – it is so much easy after 30, you feel like your in control ow, but you are not, you lizard brain owns you until you human brain takes over – right now your human brain is a peanut.
You all should be ashamed of yourselves to call yourself upstanding righteous citizens oh but of course you are only referring to the appearance of in front of others when infact your true intent is shown within by the UNKINDNESS AND UGLINESS YOU SEND OUT AS HURTFUL JUDGEMENTAL COMMENTS HOW CRUEL TO BE SO RUDE AND DISRESPECTFUL TO SHOW SUCH DISREGARD FOR A MOTHERS GRIEF SAYS MUCH MORE ABOUT YOU AND YOUR MOTHER AND SHE SHOULD BE SO PROUD OF SUCH FOOLISHNESS ????????????