By Khalida Sarwari and Dan McMenamin
A San Jose police officer and a suspect were hospitalized following a scuffle this morning in which the officer’s gun was fired, a police spokesman said.
The incident began at 10:37 a.m. in the 1100 block of Leigh Avenue when police received a call from a resident who said there were people acting suspiciously in the driveway of her apartment complex, police spokesman Sgt. Jason Dwyer said.
An officer responded at 10:54 a.m., and three minutes later made a call on the police radio asking for help, Dwyer said.
The officer was allegedly attacked by one of the suspects and a fight ensued over the officer’s gun, according to Dwyer, who said the gun was fired, although it remains unclear who fired it.
The suspect, whose name was not immediately available, was able to get possession of the gun and ran off on Leigh Avenue as two other police officers had arrived at the scene, Dwyer said.
The officers shot at the suspect, but Dwyer said he did not know if he was struck by the gunfire.
The officer who got in the initial fight went back to his patrol car and drove to the intersection of Leigh Avenue and Stokes Street, where he assisted the other officers in taking the suspect into custody, Dwyer said.
The suspect and the officer, who was not shot, were taken to a hospital. Information about their injuries was not immediately available, Dwyer said.
The two other people who were reported to be acting suspiciously in the driveway are being treated as witnesses in the case and were not arrested, he said.
Jude Voltaire, a resident who lives nearby, said he was walking out of his door on his way to work when he was told by an officer “don’t go outside because there’s a shooting.”
Another neighbor said she was in her bedroom when she heard shots fired, then heard people jumping fences nearby before someone yelled “Get on the ground!”
Officers remained at the scene as of shortly before 1 p.m. to investigate the incident.
