Two Killed, Three Wounded, One Arrested in Stabbing Spree at Downtown San Jose Church

Police arrested the person suspected of killing a man and a woman and wounding three others in a stabbing rampage at San Jose’s Grace Baptist Church Sunday night.

The three wounded victims were in “serious but stable condition,” according to an update from the San Jose Police Department Monday morning.

One man was declared dead at the scene and a woman was transported to a local hospital, where she died from her wounds. Each of the five victims was in some way linked to the downtown church’s homeless outreach program, sources tell San Jose Inside. The church was not holding a religious service at the time of the stabbings.

A couple hours after announcing the attack on Twitter Sunday, SJPD tweeted a thank-you to firefighters and first-responding officers “who rendered aid to victims in the middle of a chaotic scene and undoubtedly saved lives.”

The stabbing spree took place as unhoused people were filing in for the cold-weather overnight shelter in the church gymnasium, sources tell San Jose Inside.

Sunday’s murders mark the 41st and 42nd of the year in San Jose, which has already surpassed the homicide total of 34 in 2019.

In a tweet Monday morning, Mayor Sam Liccardo offered his condolences for the victims.

The identities of the victims will not be released until their close family members are notified, according to a SJPD press release Monday.

Police urge anyone with information about the attack to contact Sgt. Lewis or Detective Meeker of the SJPD Homicide Unit at 408.277.5283. Those who want to remain anonymous can call Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408.947.7867.

8 Comments

  1. I stayed at Grace Baptist Church in the beginning of 2020 when my housing fell thru. All shelter beds where full in Santa Clara County and I was very fortunate not to be turned away to the streets. I was embraced with open arms and treated like I mattered.

    The church staff and volunteers made sure that everyone was cared for and this just amazed me that people like this still exist in our society. They would try and do everything in their power to help people that where suffering on our streets with minimal resources.

    The Homeless and Houseless that would stay their ranged from Grandmothers, Great Grandmothers, Combat War Veterans, San Jose State students, Teachers, Mothers, and the most vulnerable in our community. Many of these people could not and would not and would not stay at the normal county / city ran shelters for safety concerns.

    Downtown San Jose has turned into a humanitarian crisis and churches like Grace are literally fighting in the trenches to keep people alive.

    Where is the County?? Where is the City?? Where are the Behavioral Health Outreach Teams??

    This is like “Lord of the Flies” and will only get worse.

    :(

  2. “The Homeless and Houseless that would stay there… the most vulnerable in our community… could not and would not and would not stay at the normal county / city ran shelters for safety concerns.”

    Call them homeless, houseless, the unhoused, or the un-incarcerated (my pick), it’s apparent from Scott Largent’s testimony they are an unpredictable and dangerous population, and when they come into a shelter, church, or neighborhood the danger comes with them.

    Good people in our cities are put in peril because of two types of “compassion” for the street addict/lunatic population: that which makes people feel good about themselves, and that which frees politicians from their responsibilities.

  3. In regards to our City and State’s failure to provide a safety net for our homeless community:

    1. The mentally ill
    Since the closure of mental assylums in the 1980s, with no where else to go, these folks started living on the streets. Today, If mental assylums were available for these folks, the requirement that the patient is required to know that they are ill and in need of help does not make any sense. A person suffering from mental illness is not aware of that fact, therefore they live outside until they commit a crime and move in to their new home – a jail, having no mental treatment, but treated as though they are criminals.

    2. Domestic Violence
    Then there are those who have been victims of domestic violence, and have been stripped of everything they have ever worked for and made to believe that they are worthless. Gathering what little strength and financial resources they have, go through step by step, our victimizing court system by requesting custody, restraining orders, protection from San Jose Police Department, Superior Court, or the infamous Family Court System, whom I have personally nicknamed “the Circus”. They go through the court system, which will further victimize them, tear their familys apart, toss the children into the foster system, and always side with the bully, ultimately giving the victim no safety net whatsoever and in some cases forces the sale of all property, assets, savings, retirement accounts, and any financial resource they may have, with no safety net ultimately no choice but to live on the streets. What possitive pro-family outcome can come out from a real estate attorney who is unmarried, yet is hired to act as a family court judge? Either the person hiring these folks doesnt fully understand how this decision will affect the general public, or just doesnt care. I personally had 2 signed, stamped court orders which the SJPD would not honor. I had paid over $10,000 in attorney fees to Help me obtain these 2 court orders, unknowing that they would NOT be honored by San Jose Police.

    3. And then there is the oppressed. No jobs, housing, nor education, fathers incarcerated, mothers on drugs or working minimum wage jobs – their children, now adults, have no where else to go.

    Affirmative Action is a fail. Affordable Housing is a fail. Affirmative Action demands larger companies to hire one black american per so many employees. I have worked at several Silicon Valley Companies who would hire one or two black americans maximum. I can say that out of 2 dozen companies I worked at during my career, I never saw more than 2 black americans employed. Affordable housing units are out of reach for most median wage families. These arent solutions. This is not good enough. YOU must do better than this. We are watching.

  4. > Affordable housing units are out of reach for most median wage families. These arent solutions. This is not good enough. YOU must do better than this. We are watching.

    So, what IS a solution?

    Giving a free “affordable house” to every median wage family?

    House that going to work?

    Is the Affordable Housing Fairy going to fly over San Jose and eject housing units?

  5. It didn’t have to happen. The assailant was undocumented, had a history of violent behavior, and the County refused to call ICE. Period.

  6. I just don’t understand this. Shouldn’t we all be yelling “Defund the police!” “No Justice no peace!”
    “Sanctuary City!” “Tear down the Wall”! “Open The Boarder”. Was this guy locked up in a “Chicken Wire Cage”, during the Obumer/Biden regime as a child?
    Some needs to ask, Why does this man keep coming back to the most hateful racist country in the world with no opportunity’s for minorities? Or did the Fake News just forget to tell us the truth again?

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