A San Jose police ofcer was gunned down early Sunday
morning at the end of a quiet Almaden Valley cul-de-sac, prompting
a daylong search that resulted in one person being detained for
questioning.
Ofcer Jeff Fontana, 24, of Woodside, is the rst San
Jose police ofcer killed by gunre in the line of
duty in more than 12 years. He was shot on Calle Almaden at about
4:30 a.m. Residents who live on the street of well-kept, relatively
new homes near Lake Almaden said there had been a recent string
of car break-ins in their normally tranquil neighborhood. Police
ofcials,
who provided few details, would not disclose why Fontana was at
the cul-de-sac and declined to comment on whether he had been alone
for two weeks.
Police were searching for two suspects and said they had a number
of strong leads. But sources could
not say if the person who was detained was one of those suspects.
At a news conference attended by San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales,
Police Chief Bill Landsdowne conrmed Fontana’s death, the rst ofcer
killed in the line of duty in two years, and the rst slain by gunre
since a 1989 downtown shootout
that left two ofcers dead. Fontana, who worked as a volunteer in community
policing centers before joining the force a year ago, had completed a customary
16-week training program before assuming solo patrol duty. Police would not
disclose whether Fontana contacted dispatchers before the shooting to report
his location or the nature of his investigation.
But one San José police ofcial
said Fontana apparently was caught off-guard. Chief Landsdowne
said it was not unusual for ofcers to
patrol on their own, as Fontana was at the time of the shooting. The
Almaden Valley neighborhood was Fontana’s regular patrol
area.
Calle Almaden and nearby streets were overrun in the pro-dawn
hours by rie-toting ofcers in combat fatigues,
police dogs and police helicopters searching for the killer.
Neighbors reported that police were searching bushes
and back yards for a weapon. At the home of Fontana’s parents,
San Jose ofcers guarded the entrance and the grieving
family’s privacy, keeping unwanted visitors away. Fontana’s
death shook the department’s ranks, said Jeff Ricketts,
a San Jose Police Ofcers Association
ofcial. “Everyone’s pretty much in shock. You just don’t
think something like this is going to happen,”Ricketts said. “From
everyone’s estimation he was a good, young police ofcer that loved
to be a cop and wanted to be a cop” said Assistant Chief Tom Wheatley. “He
was out on his own doing the things all cops want to do all their lives.”
Fontana is the eighth San Jose police ofcer slain in
the line of duty. A makeshift memorial of owers, candles
and an American ag was placed on Calle Almaden just a
few feet from where Fontana was shot. A note attached to one
flower
arrangement said, “Your sacrice and what you stood
for as
” Several neighbors said
they heard the gunshot and ran outside to discover the ofcer
lying in the street near the suspect’s car, which was left
in the driveway of a house at the end of the cul-de-sac. The
neighbor who reported the shooting to police was visibly angry
on Sunday as news crews jammed the cul-de-sac and declined to
speak to reporters. But others described a chaotic scene as police arrived
in the darkness, searching through back yards with police dogs.
Kimberly Brady, who lives on the street, snapped photographs
of the scene, which showed detectives and members of the department’s
special weapons and tactics team, dressed in combat fatigues, filling the street in the aftermath of
the shooting.
The San Jose Police Department has not lost an ofcer in
the line of duty since 1999, when ofcer Desmond Casey was
killed piloting a police helicopter. The last San Jose ofcers
killed by gunre were Gordon Silva and Gene Simpson, who
died during a downtown shootout in 1989. ‘We only hope we
can restore our community where these kinds of acts of violence
will not take place in the future,” Mayor
Gonzales said.
On 10-28-01 at 4:35AM, San Jose Police Communications received
a call from a citizen on Calle Almaden reporting an ofcer
down on the street outside their residence. Ofcers responded
and found Ofcer Fontana lying in the roadway suffering
from a gunshot wound to the head. Paramedics attempted to revive Jeffrey,
but he was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators are still
attempting to determine what led to this shooting. It appears
that Jeff had stopped the vehicle and was shot during his approach.
The suspect(s) ed the scene, but Homicide Investigators
have developed sufcient information to charge suspect
DeShawn Campbell with murder in this case. The suspect is also wanted for two outstanding felony warrants.
Based On San Jose Police Press Release and San
Jose Mercury News
