Police believe a Federal Way man was responsible for a shooting that left six people injured in San Jose, Calif., hours after the Super Bowl.
The man, 46, was taken into custody in Federal Way on Wednesday and booked into the King County Jail. He is charged in King County District Court with being a fugitive from justice and is awaiting extradition.
According to the San Jose Police Department, officers responded to a call in downtown San Jose around 11 p.m. Feb. 8, about 8 miles from where the Seahawks overtook the New England Patriots at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. Police believe the suspect was in town for the Super Bowl.
“On a day that should have been a celebration, a dangerous suspect from out of state chose to bring violence into downtown San Jose and attempted to take multiple lives,” San Jose police Chief Paul Joseph said in a news release.
Police reported an “altercation” between two groups outside of a business. King County District Court documents state investigators believe a group of women with the Federal Way man got into an argument with others. A man in the other group pushed the Federal Way man, and he pulled out a semiautomatic firearm and started shooting, the documents state.
About seven shots were fired into a “very crowded downtown public area,” according to the probable cause document.
About six people were hit, all of whom survived, before the suspect drove away, police say.
One of the people shot is now in a wheelchair, court documents say, while another was a bystander.
The shooting was investigated by the department’s gang investigations unit. Using automatic license plate reader technology, detectives identified the vehicle the shooter drove away in and connected it to the Federal Way man.
Detectives, working with the FBI Seattle office and Federal Way Police Department, learned the suspect had returned to Washington.
Last week, investigators executed search and arrest warrants at the suspect’s Federal Way home and arrested him. A firearm was recovered from his home, San Jose police said.
After his arrest, a King County sheriff’s detective interviewed the Federal Way man at the Maleng Regional Justice Center, according to the probable cause document. The man allegedly said he did not know about the warrant or if he is the person wanted in California before asking to speak with an attorney.
Washington court records show the man has been charged with several crimes, including robbery, burglary and stealing a vehicle.
He is being held in the King County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail.
Lauren Girgis: 206-652-6591 or lgirgis@seattletimes.com. Lauren Girgis is a law and justice reporter at The Seattle Times, where she reports on crime and public safety trends, prisons and juvenile detention facilities and breaking news.