Two Morgan Hill teens are in custody after a Feb. 21 shooting in a busy shopping center that left a young San Jose man injured, according to police. It was the first shooting reported in Morgan Hill in 2018.
One of the suspects was charged Tuesday with assault with a deadly weapon at a hearing at the Hall of Justice in San Jose, according to authorities.
Investigators are trying to determine how one of the 17-year-old suspects acquired a handgun, which is illegal for California residents younger than 18 to own. Authorities have declined to release the suspects’ names because they are juveniles.
Police responded to multiple 911 calls from witnesses who reported the shooting about 8pm at Tennant Station, according to MHPD Sgt. Troy Hoefling. Officers responded and located an 18-year-old male from San Jose suffering from a gunshot wound to his upper leg. Standing nearby was a large group of witnesses.
Officers determined the man was shot in front of Commonwealth Credit Union, which is located next to Tennant Avenue in the shopping center, across the street from the intersection with Church Street. One of the suspects had fired two rounds, only one of which hit the victim.
Witnesses at the scene told police that two subjects were involved in the shooting, according to Hoefling. Officers located one of the suspects who was still in the area, and ordered him to stop. That suspect—later identified as a 17-year-old male—fled on foot, but police caught up to him and arrested him after a short pursuit. In addition to being involved in the shooting, police booked him on suspicion of possession of an illegal weapon, as he had a miniature bat on him.
Witnesses also told police that the second suspect was seen running northbound on Church Street before officers arrived.
Police were able to identify the outstanding suspect as a 17-year-old male, according to police. MHPD officers were joined by Santa Clara County deputies—plus K9 dogs and a police helicopter—in searching the surrounding neighborhood the evening of Feb. 21.
A police helicopter hovered above the neighborhood, using an infrared camera to search for “hot spots” on the ground where someone might be hiding.
Authorities also searched the suspect’s residence, but were unable to immediately locate him or the weapon used in the shooting.
The second suspect later turned himself in at Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall, according to police. He was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. Police have not recovered the handgun used in the shooting, Hoefling said.
The shooting victim was transported to San Jose Regional Medical Center shortly after paramedics arrived at the scene, and he was released the following day.
Altercation
The police investigation revealed that the two suspects approached the victim at the intersection of Tennant and Church, and a verbal argument “immediately began,” police said. One of the suspects pulled out a black semiautomatic handgun and fired two rounds, one of which struck the victim in the leg.
Hoefling later said the incident does not appear to be gang-related, but the suspects and victim knew each other. He added the altercation escalated quickly, from a loud verbal argument to two shots fired by one of the suspects.
A Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman said one of the suspects was charged with assault with a semiautomatic firearm at a Feb. 27 hearing, with an enhancement for causing great bodily harm. The other suspect is scheduled to appear March 5. Both hearings were set to take place at the Hall of Justice in San Jose.
Statistically, Tennant Station has been a safe shopping center. Since Jan. 1, 2017, police have responded to only two violent incidents at Tennant Station—the Feb. 21 shooting and a robbery of a cell phone from a Safeway customer on May 29, 2017, according to police.
Other types of calls are more frequent at the shopping center, which houses the grocery store as well as a movie theater, restaurants and other shops. Since Jan. 1, 2017, these calls include 36 reports of theft, 29 reported disturbances and 25 “suspicious person” calls, according to MHPD Police Analyst Margarita Balagso.
The shooting is the first in Morgan Hill in 2018. The last shooting here was in December 2017, when three young men entered a home on Calle Mazatan and shot the 62-year-old resident. Police said the suspects, who were arrested down the road after they fled the residence in a vehicle, knew the victim and robbed him before they shot him.
The victim survived the gunshot wound.
In October 2017, police also responded to a shooting in the area of Denali and Scotts Bluff Drive. The suspect, who has not been identified or arrested, shot at a residence during a dispute about unsafe driving, according to police. No injuries were reported in that incident.
On April 1, 2017, Morgan Hill police arrested a suspect from Soledad who shot a man in Morgan Hill during a road-rage incident. The victim survived that shooting.
