San Jose police on Thursday released new information pertaining to the deadly downtown gun battle between officers and a carjacking suspect as the investigation the widens.
The suspect, identified by police as 30-year-old Mohamed Husien of Davis, died at the scene of Wednesday’s shootout. A police sergeant who suffered a skull fracture after exchanging gunfire with Husien was released from the hospital Thursday afternoon.
Dozens of witnesses took to social media to post videos of the shootout, which happened at the intersection of Notre Dame Avenue and Julian Street. Leticia Timoteo watched it all unfold from the 15th floor of her office building.
“You could just hear gunshot, gunshot, gunshot,” she said. “It was crazy.”
Timoteo’s video showed Husien exit a vehicle that he allegedly carjacked in Hollister. A sergeant in a police cruiser appeared to try to run Husein over. That sergeant then exchanged gunfire with Husein and got shot in the head.
As Husien ran away, an officer in another squad car ran him over.
“Nothing about a deadly force encounter is pretty,” San Jose police Chief Paul Joseph said. “And at that point you have an incredibly dangerous situation with a dangerous individual. That individual needs to be stopped. Whatever means the officers needed to use to stop that individual, they made a decision in that moment.”
Sources said Husein first stole a car from a dealership in Sacramento on Saturday and then went on a Bay Area crime spree, robbing a convenience store and then a liquor store in San Jose.
On Sunday, they said he committed two more robberies.
On Wednesday, Husein entered a Chevrolet dealership at Capitol Expressway Auto Mall, police said. Sources said he asked to test drive a Corvette. When employees brought him the keys, Husein allegedly pulled out a gun and took off with the car. He ended up in Hollister where he had a shootout with police before abandoning the Corvette. He then allegedly carjacked another vehicle before coming to a stop in downtown San Jose.
“This was a scene none of us ever wants to witness in real life,” Joseph said. “It’s the kind of footage people might expect from an action movie. But this was not a movie. This was a battle for that sergeant’s life.”
Several cars that were caught in the crossfire remained at the scene into the afternoon on Thursday. Forensics technicians spent the day taking inventory of the damage. Evidence markers littered the scene.
“It was so traumatic,” Timoteo said. “I couldn’t calm down until I got home.”
The suspect was due in court next Thursday for a competency hearing and also had a handful of felony charges filed against him a few years back, but those cases were all dismissed because of insufficient evidence.
