By Khalida Sarwar
Police are continuing to investigate the shooting death of a man at a funeral for a murdered Hells Angels member in San Jose on Saturday afternoon.
The shooting occurred during a funeral attended by an estimated 4,000 people at the Oak Hill Cemetery on Curtner Avenue, Officer Jose Garcia said.
Garcia said the funeral was for Jeffrey Pettigrew, the 51-year-old president of the Hells Angels’ San Jose chapter who was killed at John Ascuaga’s Nugget casino resort in Sparks, Nev., on the night of Sept. 23.
Funeral attendees called police to report the shooting around 12:50 p.m.
Officers arrived at the cemetery and made their way through the crowd, but once they got to the crime scene, they found it had been “tampered with,” Garcia said. He did not explain further.
Someone at the funeral had taken the shooting victim to a hospital by the time the officers arrived. The victim was struck at least once and later died of his injuries at the hospital, Garcia said.
Police are not yet releasing the victim’s name, but Garcia said he is a “confirmed or validated member of the Hells Angel” motorcycle club. He would not comment on which chapter he was affiliated with.
No arrests have been made, and as of this morning, police had not identified any suspects.
Garcia said the investigation is ongoing and a motive for the shooting has not yet been established.
He said that after the shooting, most people left but some remained for Pettigrew’s interment.
