Officer, suspect hurt in shootout

Violence shook San Jose on Friday, with a shooting death in a 7Eleven parking lot and a series of holdups ending in a chase and shootout that left both a suspect and a police officer wounded.

Police are trying to determine whether the crimes are linked.

The chase began around 9:15 p.m. when an officer spotted a car on Highway 101 near Interstate 280 that matched the description of a vehicle linked to a string of armed robberies earlier in the day, said Sgt. Jason Dwyer of the San Jose Police Department. One robbery was of an individual. The others occurred at a gas station, a pizza parlor and a fastfood restaurant.

With police in pursuit, the suspects roared off the freeway at Tully Road and stopped at Lanai Avenue. One suspect jumped out of the car and fired at a police car behind him, apparently hitting an officer who was ducking for cover. An officer in another vehicle shot back and wounded the suspect, who stumbled back into the car and drove off while a second suspect fled on foot, Dwyer said.

The car crashed near Cunningham Avenue and Tymn Way, where the bleeding suspect barged into a nearby home. The residents promptly ran outside and notified police, who surrounded the house. The barricaded suspect surrendered shortly after midnight.

The suspect and officer were both treated for non-life-threatening injuries, Dwyer said. The other suspect remains at large.

The chase began shortly after San Jose’s 42nd homicide of the year.

That incident was reported to police at 9:01 p.m. and occurred outside the 7-Eleven at 497 Kiely Blvd. Police arrived to find an adult male had been shot. The victim, who has not been identified, was pronounced dead at the scene.

“We believe there were two suspects” involved in the parking lot homicide, Dwyer said. Asked if there might be a link between the two incidents, he replied “We don’t know that. We’re still investigating.”