Authorities identify man killed in city's first homicide of the year

SAN JOSE >> A man stabbed to death Tuesday afternoon in a Carl's Jr. parking lot in East San Jose, marking the city's first homicide of the year, has been identified by authorities.

The man was 31-year-old Dominic Vincent Ortega, according to the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner's Office.

The attack was reported about 3:17 p.m. in the 1600 block of Tully Road, near Highway 101 and a Carl's Jr. restaurant, San Jose police said in a news release. A man was stabbed at least once in the Carl's Jr. parking lot. He then pulled his car into a gas station at the intersection of Tully and King Roads, colliding with another vehicle.

Officers and paramedics performed livesaving measures until he was taken to a hospital, where he later died, according to authorities. More information, including details on potential suspects or a motive, was not released. The incident is still under investigation.

The death ended one of the longest stretches that San Jose has gone to start the year without recording a homicide. Last year, the city's first killing was reported Jan. 9, and San Jose recorded four homicides by Feb. 9.

In 2021, 40 homicides were recorded in San Jose: 31 were investigated by San Jose police and nine, from the VTA rail yard mass shooting, were investigated by the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office.

The prevailing source of public safety deaths in San Jose this year involves the city's roadways: 12 people have died in traffic collisions in 2022, outpacing a record 2021. Eight of the year's traffic victims were pedestrians.