VTA security officer shoots, kills man with knives at light-rail station

SAN JOSE » A Valley Transportation Authority security officer shot and killed a man who was reportedly threatening people with knives at the Santa Teresa light- rail station Wednesday night , according to the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies were called to the station about 8:40 p. m., by which point a security officer already had “engaged the suspect and shots were fired” on the platform off Santa Teresa Boulevard, Sheriff’s Sgt. Michael Low said.

Sheriff dispatch traffic, archived online and corroborated by investigators, describes a man in his 30s holding “a knife and scissors and threatening people.” The security guard fired at least two shots, a sheriff’s deputy who responded to the scene told dispatchers.

The wounded man was “faintly breathing, somewhat conscious,” before he was rushed to a local hospital, the deputy said. The man later died of gunshot injuries.

Photos released by the Sheriff ’s Office show at least two knives and a long cord resembling a bike lock lying on the train platform after the shooting, as well as scissors on the track.

Citing investigators, Low said the suspect was “quickly advancing toward the security officer with all of those items in his hands” before the shots were fired.

“The security officer gave verbal commands for him to drop the items, and the suspect was not obeying those commands,” Low said. “The suspect closed to within 5 to 10 feet when he opened fire.”

Low said there were other people on the train platform when the shooting occurred, but he could not specify how close the suspect was to any of them. Additional details about the circumstances behind the shooting were not immediately released.

Low said the Sheriff’s Office will not release the name of the security officer until the suspect has been formally identified and his next of kin is notified, a process that the county Medical Examiner- Coroner’s Office said still was pending as of Thursday afternoon.

The security officer is not in custody, and Low said he is cooperating with investigators. The nature of the case is being described only as a shooting investigation by the Sheriff’s Office.

The District Attorney’s Office said that any case presented to prosecutors for review would be officially treated as a homicide rather than an officer-involved shooting because the security officer is not a sworn peace officer. But that does not necessarily mean that any criminal charges will be filed.

The security officer was contracted through Allied Universal, a security systems, janitorial services and staff ing company with offices throughout the U. S. as well as in Canada, the United Kingdom and South America. VTA has contracted with the company for the past decade to supplement the Sherif f ’ s Of fice, which serves as the sworn police force for the transit system.

“They work very closely with transit patrol deputies,” Low said, adding that “oftentimes they are the reporting parties” for crimes on VTA properties.

According to Allied Universal, 85 security officers were hired in 2009 to provide security and patrols for VTA. The private security guards are state- certified to carry firearms, pepper spray and batons and perform foot and vehicle patrols. The company’s website also states that the armed officers undergo “eight hours of semiannual use of force and firearms training, and two additional four- hour periods of firearms qualification and driver training,” on top of existing state mandates.

Allied Universal issued a statement saying the company is “participating fully” in the shooting investigation, but it otherwise referred inquiries to the Sheriff’s Office. A VTA spokesperson, other than saying that the crime scene was cleared at 5:20 a. m. Thursday, also referred inquiries there.

Low said that it is a rare occurrence for a VTA security officer to use deadly force. Allied Universal did not immediately respond to a question about whether any of its contracted security officers have fired their weapons whi le working with VTA prior to Wednesday.

The shooting remains under investigation, and anyone with information is asked to contact the Sheriff ’ s Office at 408808- 4500. Anonymous tips can be left at 408808- 4431.