SAN JOSE, CA - On Tuesday, August 24, a San Jose police officer was wounded during a shootout with an armed suspect in a close-quarters bathroom inside a house that had been occupied by several residents just moments before.
Accounts from police and the homeowner shed light on an encounter that began with the suspect fleeing arrest and threatening pursuing officers with a gun, then randomly running into a home for refuge, Mercury News reported.
Officers stormed the home and, in a matter of minutes, ushered the residents to safety and confronted the suspect in a back room, where he shot a police sergeant before officers fatally shot him. The homeowner, Brett Bymaster, praised officers for ending the chaotic situation swiftly and without harming his adult children, son-in-law, and young grandchildren.
"I am definitely extremely grateful for the officer who pretty easily could have died to save the lives of our family. That is just incredible heroism, and I do want to express my profound gratitude there,” Bymaster said in a statement. “These guys just ran in fearlessly … They did not hesitate for one second, and those were the seconds that saved my family’s life."
On Wednesday, August 26, San Jose Police Chief Paul Joseph identified the injured officer as Sgt. Matt Walsh, a nine-year police veteran and leader in the MERGE unit, which is the department's equivalent of a SWAT team.
Joseph praised Walsh's steadiness in the face of danger and noted that Walsh, after being shot twice in the torso and returning fire that killed the suspect, walked out of the house on his own power and called for his own ambulance.
"A rare combination of warrior spirit and the intense resolve of someone completely focused on the people around him,” Joseph said of Walsh at a news conference. “Watching him in the situation was both terrifying and putting (us) in awe of the level of composure that he maintained. That’s a caring husband and father with an insatiable drive to keep this city safe from the most violent of individuals."
Walsh was transported to Valley Medical Center, where he was listed in stable condition. The suspect, 39-year-old Anthony Ross Chavez, was shot several times by Walsh and a second officer, a 10-year veteran of SJPD. Chavez died at the scene.
Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen and Mayor Matt Mahan said that Chavez should not have been free, having been arrested on April 2 for auto theft and resisting arrest. He was reportedly granted supervised release. In October, Chavez was released from prison for crimes related to more than a half-dozen convictions for armed robberies spanning 2010 and 2012, and multiple gang crime convictions.
His approximate 23-year sentence was reduced to just over 17 years, leading to his release after accounting for time served and custody credits. Rosen, whose office opposed Chavez's April release, said in a statement that "our hearts are with the officer as he recovers from this shooting."
In the same statement, he described Chavez as a “long-term criminal” who “should have never been free to commit more crimes and violence against anyone.” The statement also alluded to “laws on bail” that are “rapidly changing, making it harder to keep even dangerous defendants behind bars."
At the news conference, Mahan said that Chavez being released early and free to commit crimes was part of "an unfortunate pattern in our criminal justice system of violent repeat offenders, often being released prematurely … without accountability … which puts our community and our officers in harm’s way unnecessarily."
According to police, a gold 2003 Chevrolet Tahoe reported stolen August 16 and linked to Chavez was spotted around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday about a mile from the area, and attracted suspicion because the vehicle had been associated with two armed robberies reported Saturday and Sunday in San Jose. Authorities said Chavez had been swapping the vehicle's license plates to avoid detection by license-plate readers.
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