San Jose police shot two men in as many days this week, wounding one and killing the other. Tuesday’s shooting critically injured a man during a family fight in the east foothills. Wednesday’s scene ended in a tense standoff with the suspect of a double homicide in a Willow Glen cul-de-sac.
The incidents marked the third and fourth officer-involved shootings for the San Jose Police Department (SJPD) this year. On April 21, police shot a 28-year-old man, who allegedly brandished a knife before turning it on himself. On March 17, cops shot a caulk gun-wielding naked man after a car chase that left a wake of damaged vehicles.
Only the most recent shooting was deadly.
At about 9pm Wednesday, police responded to reports of gunfire on Laura Ville Lane. They arrived at the scene of an execution.
A 24-year-old man, identified in news reports as Mira Tatlic, had fatally shot the parents of his ex-girlfriend and held her 13-year-old brother hostage. Officers surrounded the house as negotiators persuaded the gunman to release the boy.
The negotiations continued until the suspect reportedly aimed his weapon at officers, prompting a 17-year department veteran to return fire. Tatlic was pronounced dead on the scene, and no officers were hurt.
The cop who fired the fatal round was placed on routine paid leave. The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office will conduct a joint investigation into the killings along with SJPD’s homicide unit. Police ask anyone with information about the homicide to call detectives at 408.277.5283.
Nearly 400 people have died at the hands of American law enforcement to date in 2017, according to news-mining database Killed by Police. The same website identified 1,153 fatalities for all of 2016.
The number of police officers killed in the line of duty in 2017 stands at 43, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. In all of 2016, 144 officers died on the job, including three in California.
What is the purpose of this piece? Inquiring minds would like to know.
inquiring minds is because SJI does not like SJPD and writes crazy headlines like this to get attention. Shame on you SJI, worthless article just to grab headlines.
By the way, no article about the suspect who shot at police on Tully Road Sunday. Guess it is not worthy because the suspect was not killed nor was an officer injured. Successful arrest is no news
Agree with ReliableInformer, the article seems purposeless, but there are some important take-aways. The Merc reported that Tatlic’s gun was not registered to him – thus highlighting the futility of the Gun Violence Restraining Order law. Neither criminals nor mentally ill observe laws. Moral: if you need to get a restraining order, then get a gun too.
“this isn’t the sort of thing that happens in Willow Glen.”, the Merc reported. Yes, it can happen anywhere.
SJPD chief Garcia immediately claimed “evil” and “mental illness” were the culprits, yet no evidence so far that either was responsible. Revenge does not equal insanity; some cultures encourage it.
Worth noting SJPD’s professionalism, restraint, and effectiveness. The published reports so far indicate Tatlic’s death was actually suicide by cop.
One dead and one alive?(Tuesday night?)….I knew RMC was good, but I didn’t know they could bring people back from the dead…Charming!!!!
Journalistic integrity/standards are still slipping. Sensationalism above everything else. Is it because of bloggers, fake news, Facebook…? Whatever the cause, humanity is in trouble if this type of article is considered news.
Reads more like an attempt to fan the embers of Hands Up Don’t Shoot, which was ACTUALLY proven to be a lie- but is still perpetuated by the media. The Gentle Giant is a media martyr.
This publication certainly never apologized or set the record straight afterward, they just piled on more BLM “outrage” and sought quotes from local (criminal) activists.
So the popo “open fired” on poor Mr tatlic after he executed a mother and father in fromt of their 12 year old son? Jenny are you really trying to “fan the flames” on a situation that was absolutely just and necessary? If you could peek through the liberal fog that clouds your brain for just one minute, can you possibly see what this sort of piece really represents? Has “journalism” really sunk this low? As Jate stated above, you continue to glorify and make martyr’s out of criminals that commit murder, robbery and assaults upon normal average working people. I dont understand where the liberal mind thinks we would be without some law and order and consequences to outrageous acts of evil. How do you sleep at night? I would suspect you set the TV timer and fall asleep to CNN where the lies put you to sleep like a sweet lullaby.
Again, ReliableInformer makes a valid point. Ms. Wadsworth & SJI should reflect on their culpability in the 56% increase in officers killed in the line of duty in 2016. The FBI’s April report, “Assailant Study — Mindsets and Behaviors,” sheds some light. “These assailants expressed that they were distrustful of the police due to their previous personal interactions with law enforcement and what they heard and read in the media about other incidents of law enforcement shootings,” the FBI said.
The SJI piece offers no new insight on the Tatlic shooting or the others mentioned. It neglects to inquire about SJPD’s response time to this incident or that response time statistics are no longer included in annual State of City presentations since Liccardo became mayor. No mention of SJPD bodycam videos. No mention of any warning to the Prabhu family, after Tatlic’s mother filed a restraining order against her son in Aug. No mention of any reports the Prabhu family may have made in response to incidents dating back to at least 2015 per the Merc’s coverage.
Slow news day? Police work isn’t always pretty. You have a society with guns and the police with guns, where sometimes it goes bad. If you were to write about the positive actions of the SJPD, you would find many more topics to write about. 4 shootings? It is just a number.
Ms. Wadsworth deserves a bit of credit here as she has done an excellent job of revealing what blinding bias looks like in print. Given that most of her piece relates to the Willow Glen incident, let’s examine it.
In what can only be described as a heartbreaking tragedy, two innocent and reportedly wonderful people were taken by surprise in their home and cold-bloodedly shot dead by a monster motivated by only his desire to bring life-changing tragedy to the young woman who’d rejected him. This horrible act resulted in a frantic call for help, a call answered without hesitation by the brave officers of the SJPD who, once on scene, were confronted with the nightmare of an armed madman who’d already proved himself a killer, holed-up and threatening the life of a young, traumatized hostage.
Prior to the arrival of police the madman’s potential for further mayhem was unlimited. With nothing to lose, had he desired to stay put and shoot a few neighbors or a kid riding by on a bicycle he could’ve; had he chosen to flee the scene it’s hard to say that anyone in the city would’ve been safe. But once the police were on scene his list of options and potential victims was reduced markedly: he could leave only in handcuffs or in a body bag, and he could harm only the hostage and the officers steadfastly barring him from the rest of the city. Nevertheless, in regards to the outcome, it remained in the madman’s control, no matter that the public — led around by the nose by the media, could be so quick and very often unfair in finding fault with the police.
It is worth noting there is no evidence that at any point during this horrific drama the participants or neighborhood residents were concerned with the tally of police shootings this week, to date this year, or in all of 2016. What they were undoubtedly concerned with was intensely personal and frightening, and, in the case of the officers, their sworn duty. As the situation played itself out it was the duty of every officer to hold his/her fire, that is, until it became the duty of one to end the madman’s reign of terror.
To Ms. Wadsworth, mesmerized by her progressive politics, the who, what, when, where, and why of this tragic story are little more than inanimate building blocks upon which she can hoist her agenda and mount her headline: Police Officers Open Fire.
I kind of feel sorry for her.
Yes Finfan she seems quite pathetic and pitiful … I feel sorry for her too. It cant be easy to be this cold hearted and self centered even for a progressive media hack.
As to be expected from Ms. Wadsworth, good is bad, left is right, the upside must be down the downside.
It’s the way you see the world when looking at it backwards through a pink lensed kaleidoscope and smoking a joint.
Always enjoy when the SJPD hijacks the comments section of SJI reports.
Different and bizarre view of reality I guess. Apparently have too much time on their hands.
Get a real job and enjoy life.
A comments section that is otherwise vacant cannot be hijacked, not even by a collection of individuals your delusions have led you to misidentify as being SJPD officers. Get a pair and argue your point… take advantage of your anonymity and put your thoughts on the line instead of hiding behind the snide, vapid comments that’ve become the trademark of basket-case progressives.
Your all nuts , actually its you’re. Are you another SJI lapdog throwdown handle? Not everyone is clouded by progressive hate. Those of us who are not cops can see right through this nonsense. Bizarre view of reality is the stamp of true liberalism. Deflection is your strong point I see. So what do you do?
YAN, please elaborate on what suggests comments originate from SJPD employees. My understanding is that many have long commutes given the high cost of housing. Coupled with the amount of SJPD overtime, it seems unlikely that few, if any, have much discretionary time. Bizarre views? Will appreciate expanding on that claim too.