SJPD: Machete-wielding suspect who held family hostage before officer shot him had recently been evicted
SAN JOSE -- San Jose Police offered new details Monday about a standoff last week involving a machete-wielding man holding a family hostage in their apartment which ended when an officer shot the suspect dead.
The incident happened last Wednesday on the 900 block of Boynton Ave. in West San Jose. Officers responded at around 8:30 p.m. to the apartment where a mother and her two sons, aged 7 and 18, were being held hostage.
During a press conference Monday, Police Chief Anthony Mata said the suspect - identified as 35-year-old San Jose resident Eliobert Gonzalez-Rocha - was not known to the family but had been recently evicted from the apartment complex. Witnesses told police the suspect broke into the family's apartment and threatened to kill the mother and her older son unless they gave him his apartment keys back, Mata said.
The woman's younger son hid in a nearby closet during the ordeal. Mata said the father arrived home and found the suspect threatening his family. The suspect told him to get out of the apartment or he would kill the family, and the father contacted police.
As the standoff stretched in several hours, Mata said officers looking through a window moments before the shooting saw the suspect standing over the family with the machete raised and holding a handgun in the other hand, which turned out to be a replica gun.
"The suspect stood over the family and directed the mother to tie the hands of the eldest son with an electrical cord," said Mata. "The suspect then ordered the mother and the elder son to kneel facing away from him. Due to the suspect's actions and erratic behavior, officers believed that the situation had escalated and also believed that the family lives were in immediate and mortal danger."
Gonzalez-Rocha died of his injuries early the next day at a hospital. Mata said the department would release body camera-worn video of the shooting in the coming weeks.
The officer who opened fire is a nine-year veteran of the department and was placed on administrative leave, said Mata. The criminal investigation was being handled by both homicide detectives and the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office. Meanwhile, the case was being monitored by the department's internal affairs unit, the city's attorney's office, and the Office of the Independent Police Auditor.
Both Mata and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan praised the officers Monday for their response to the incident.
"I'm thankful beyond words that this situation did not end in horrifying tragedy," Mahan said. "I want to really commend the work of all the officers who were involved."
