Authorities give update on San Jose rail yard shooting rampage | USA TODAY

 

so that such is in bringing in um a bomb

robot

in there and it takes time so i ask for

your patience on gathering further

information from here

it's gonna be some time other than that

we have detectives on scene

we're doing everything we can but i'll

tell you this with the training that

we've been doing with our active shooter

protocol

this could have been a lot worse in the

situation this is a very unfortunate

situation

but with the training and everything

that we have with this protocol

this this could have been a lot worse

than what it was unfortunately

so that being said i'm going to pass it

on to sheriff lori smith who's going to

give you further information

the bomb squad is pretty much activated

and they're searching every crevice of

the whole building

to ensure that everything is safe and

that's where it's going to take some

time

the vta transit center which is a light

well it's pretty much a light rail

facility pretty much

like real quick

you know you know we appreciate having

federal agencies coming out they come

out here just to provide resources for

us hey do you need any assistance and

you know in that case if we need help

we'll ask them out in that case so

they're just being that entity to help

us out

it depends how big this building is i

haven't been in the building myself but

it's going to take some time

so i ask you for that patience what's

the size of the structure

any educational motive we don't have

that information right now this is still

preliminary this is still ongoing

all the information i have is i can give

it at this point we're still getting as

we get along

what's the size of the search area for

for explosive devices

and is there any indication that the

people who were killed were specifically

targeted or was this someone an employee

showing up at work with a grudge

and just sprang spraying

indiscriminately so this is a big

building

i can't get into details how big this

building is but it's a pretty pretty

decent sized building

um in regards with motive i don't have

that information this is still

preliminary and i'm still trying to get

that information at this point

yeah i'm going to pass it off to share

flory smith and then she's going to take

it from me

so what i'd first like to do is

tell everyone that my heart really goes

out to the victims

these were county employees and we're

doing everything we can to help them

including the family reunification

center but i really want to commend of

the law enforcement in santa clara

county

several years ago the sheriff's office

in conjunction with the county fire

department

began a series of trainings for active

shooter

and that training has happened

throughout the county with law

enforcement and all fire agencies

and why that differs is that at the time

there's an active shooter

as soon as we can get one team together

we go in the first teams through the

door were the sheriff's office and

san jose police department and

they're they're my true heroes there was

active shooting going on at that time

um there were victims shot in two

separate buildings

but they responded they responded the

way

that they should they took their life in

their hands and i know

for sure that when the suspect

knew the law enforcement was there he

took his own life

our deputies were right there at that

time so

it's very complex investigation

we now know that san jose is working on

the house fire and we're still putting

that together

but our detectives are on scene and

we're doing everything we can to

identify the victims as soon as possible

so their loved ones can can know so

thank you very much for covering this

and we will continue to give you updates

as the investigation progresses

um it's still too early for us to know

um but the the suspect was an employee

also

i'm going to pass it on to governor

gavin newsom

thank you let me uh thank the sheriff

the mayor

our police chief captain all the men and

women in uniform you're going to learn

over the course the next number of days

and weeks

about the heroism of the san jose police

save lives deputy sheriffs

uh that ran quite literally ran moments

after

seconds after hearing about this

incident without any consideration of

their own lives

and did an extraordinary job to save

other people's lives that said

you know there's a numbness i imagine

some of us are feeling about this

because there's a sameness to this you

know any

wear usa just feels like this happens

over

and over and over again rinse and repeat

rinse and repeat it wasn't that long ago

i was standing out here

talking about the tragic loss of two

children one and mother's arms

the gilroy festival just here in this

community

down in southern california and san

bernardino

remember a few years prior santa barbara

pick a state and here we are

in the united states of america we're

experiencing something

just not experienced anywhere else in

the world there's a sameness to this

and that numbness i think is something

we're all feeling

all of us gathered here today looking at

the scene

listening to governors mayors chiefs

speaking similar tone in terms

expression of condolences all the right

emotions and

perhaps the right words but it begs the

damn question what the hell is going on

in the united states of america

the hell is wrong with us and when are

we going to come to grips with this when

are we going to put down

our arms literally and figuratively our

politics stale rhetoric finger-pointing

all a hand-wringing consternation that

produces nothing except more fury and

frustration

more scenes like this repeated over and

over and over again i say that

not as a governor and say that as a

father of four

i say that as a member of this community

cares deeply about it

so we'll we'll have time to work through

all of that but one thing i just wanted

to briefly speak to

is the pain in those victims

i just spent we just had the privilege

spending last few hours

with the victims that are waiting

to just learn if their loved one is

still alive they're dialing the phones

they can't find it

they're trying to go on and find a phone

with a loved one

when you hear from the coroner waiting

to hear from any of us just desperate to

find out

if their brother their son their dad

their mom is still alive just imagine

being in there i know everybody wants

all the answers to all these questions

but there's no more important question

and no more important answers than we

owe

than the victims of this senseless and

tragic shooting

and so i'm not just gonna express my

condolences i'm not just gonna

express the usual platitudes uh but let

me just think the heroism of those

victims

the fact that they can even stand up and

support one another

is remarkable what a human act

and so i just want to uh

we just want folks to know we're going

to be there for the victims

i want folks to know you know i'm here

for you mr mayor and the county

uh this state and uh and i know

we have elected officials of all

political stripes want to be here for

this nation

but it's time time to deal with the

endemic

before this pandemic of gun violence the

pre-existing condition

it somehow sort of pushed aside last

year but now has raised its ugly head

again this year and wake up to this

reality and take a little damn

responsibility all of us

to do a little bit more and a little bit

better this time and move beyond

the platitudes and the usual

rhetoric that tends to mark not just

these moments but the aftermath

of these moments as all of you go away

and this fades out of you

and then we rinse and repeat someplace

else in this country so

again to the victims to

those that lost their lives and the

families lost their loved ones

yes our hearts go out but we are

resolved to not make this meaningless

but to bring meaning of this tragic

moment in our state in our nation's

history

again thank you to all the men and women

behind me and their courageousness

and the incredible incredible bravery

that was demonstrable

of the men and women our san jose police

department and sheriff's office

governor what do you say to the people

who say california has some of the

toughest gun laws

so next we're going to introduce valley

transportation authority

chair president glenn hendricks

as you all know a horrible tragedy has

impacted the bta family

the organization and our whole community

and our thoughts and love go out to all

the employees who have been directly and

indirectly

impacted by this horrible event i want

to let you know that the families have

been moved

to the family assistance center at the

red cross

to continue to have meet with counselors

about what's happening

we're really grateful for the outpouring

of support that has come from

union leadership in transit

organizations from across the country

the vta has suspended its light rail

service and will probably be suspended

for several days

as we work through being able to get

back into the yard

we'll be setting up bus bridges to go

ahead and help get our customers around

we're asking that our customers be

patient with us as we work through this

event to try and recover our service

and i also want to thank all the law

enforcement that's been involved

in their quick reaction and the way

they've been dealing with

everyone who's involved by this and once

again i want to say how

terribly sorry i am and want to thank

everybody in the vta family who's been

so effective

next we're going to introduce the

president of the county board of

supervisors for santa clara county

mike wasserman and county supervisor

cindy chavis

it was two years ago mass shooting in

gilroy

and law enforcement responded quickly

and minimized the number of fatalities

last year we had coveted still have go

with the last year was the big year

and the people and the county responded

so as to have the lowest positivity rate

in the state today we have this mass

shooting here

and it was the santa clara county

sheriff's department and the san jose

police department

that responded so quickly to minimize

the loss of lives

as you can see our flag now is at half

mass to help

commemorate and remember the people that

have passed today

it is an extremely sad day in the

history of santa clara county

but i'm also very proud of the response

by law enforcement

and then the vta family taking care

of the loved ones the survivors of those

that pass

and the district attorney's office that

has stepped forward

with the services they've provided two

years ago to the people in gilroy

and continue to provide every day and

will provide

to the survivors loved ones and family

of those that passed it is a sad day in

santa clara county history

but i'm very proud of the response

including the unions

that have come forward with funding and

help

santa clara county is a family and

you're seeing that go into effect today

my condolences to all the family members

and friends

of those that passed in thank you

you know let me let me start by just

reminding everybody that

the backbone of santa clara county

throughout cobit 19

was all the essential workers and none

were more essential

than making sure people could get to

their places of work

and vta never stopped it didn't stop

light rail it didn't stop buses it

didn't stop helping move people from

point a to point b

these uh heroes that we we all learned

how to call essential workers heroes

we're now calling on them to be heroes

again

there's a fund that's been set up for

these families

and by going to workingpartnerships.org

anybody who wants to make a contribution

to the families that have been impacted

the vta families that have been impacted

can do that directly by going to

workingpartnershipsusa.org

i just want to close with this point

while my heart breaks i can't

stop thinking about what we could all be

doing differently to stop this in our

community so it just doesn't become

something that just happens here but

something that should never happen

and thank all of you for being here

next one introduce the mayor of san jose

san lucardo

it's been said before but it's worth

saying again our hearts are broken

for the family members who have lost

their loved ones for our vta

family members who have lost their

friends and colleagues i'm joined here

by councilmember

peralta south of dear friend

council member matt mahan uh

these are members of our community these

are members of our families

and right now this moment is for morning

and for supporting his families and

friends and loved ones

and we're going to do everything we can

here at the city with all of our

partners and i'm so grateful for how

everyone has stepped up the valley

transportation authority in the county

to have the governor come down here lily

came down here said

i don't need to speak to anybody on any

stage or anything i just want to be here

for the families

for hours you spent with the rest of us

simply to be here with us everyone has

stepped up

in such a tremendous way showing the

heart of our community

and how we care in times of tragedy

tomorrow

we're going to have a visual at 6 pm at

san jose city hall

we know that our entire community will

need

this moment and many others to mourn

together

and so we want to bring people together

to be able to at least share a common

humanity

particularly given all that we've been

through over the last year and a half

this is a time when we need to be

together

i want to thank working partnerships usa

and south bay labor council for setting

up

a fund and we encourage anyone who wants

to give to help support families

in this difficult time to please give

generously to that fund

these are discounts as supervisor chavez

said so well

these are the women and men who support

our community through this pandemic

they showed up at work every day as

essential workers

despite risk to their own health

and they did it because they understood

their mission their commitment to public

service

we owe them and their families so much

and i am so grateful for the san jose

police department and the sheriff's

office that responded so quickly

undoubtedly saving lives as a result

we will continue to show our resolve as

a community to come together

and as the governor indicated we've got

a lot of work to do to start to work on

solutions

that work is still ahead of us for now

we focus on everything we can do to

support these families

and their loved ones thank you

pass it off to the federal bureau

investigation fbi special agent in

charge of the san francisco office

craig fair

my name is craig farah i'm the special

agent charge of the san francisco

division of the fbi

here in the bay area on behalf of the

fbi i would like to express

our condolences to the families and

victims

vta family and to the city of san jose

in the wake of this

tragic crisis of which the fbi is no

stranger

to responding to

the fbi is assisting the city of san

jose the san jose police department and

their santa clara sheriff's office in

this investigation

they are lead we are providing

assistance in the form

of evidence response and recovery

we are flying national assets from

quantico virginia

we will be providing ballistics

technical forensic

equipment and analysis we will be

bringing teams in from other divisions

throughout the fbi to assist in the

analysis of the crime scene

that is going to take some time it is

complex

we are very deliberate um we

are required to map catalog evidence

and that is going to take some time that

i'm asking your patients

in that process we are also providing

victim assistance victim services

during this crisis to help families

we will be here as long as needed and

continue to provide that assistance i

would also like to commend the first

responders

the officers who went in at their own

peril

to assist in taking out victims

thank you very much special agent could

you describe a little bit how complex

this is it looks like it's multiple

buildings you're already starting the

map and i see some of that

this is a really you're talking multiple

locations right

it is multiple locations it is as i said

it's a very sizable crime scene

we are currently in there um looking at

how we need to go and how we need to

process that that is also going to take

some time before we actually start

in processing any idea how long days um

potentially looking at days but i don't

want to get into that right now

pass it off to i'll call tobacco and

firearms atf

assistant special agent in charge joshua

jackson

good afternoon my name is joshua jackson

i'm the assistant special agent in

charge

with atf san francisco field division

atf definitely wants to express our

deepest condolences to the victims

who lost their lives were injured the

families

and friends of those individuals as well

as

community at large were suffering at

this time atf

is here supporting this investigative

effort

as well as providing all of our experts

and firearms

arson explosives include our certified

fire investigators

are certified explosive specialists as

well as our

explosive detection canines in addition

to our personnel we're also providing

firearm ballistics information

resources related to our national

integrative ballistic

information network from kniven as well

as tracing

atf is committed to reducing mileage

crime throughout all the communities

that we serve throughout the united

states

and we're committed to to see this one

through supporting our

investigative partners here in this

investigative team thank you joshua can

you talk about the different dogs

we've seen like all kinds they have

different specialties can you talk about

that

i can comment on the atf explosive

detection canines that we have

currently we have five atf explosive

detection

canines that have been deployed to

support investigative efforts

and uh those canines are being deployed

uh on the scene

talk about the importance of naivete in

this case

naivan is important as far as it

provides

atf and our investigative resources the

ability to be able to trace

firearms and ballistics evidence to link

it to other fire

other firearm crimes or other crimes

that might be involved

it's not to say that this the evidence

here has not been processed for knives

yet the crime scene is still being

processed as we speak evidence is still

being

taken into custody that will take place

at a later date thank you you

will use diamond is that correct so

we're going to pass it off next to san

jose

police department chief anthony montan

good afternoon i want to extend my

sincerest condolences

to the victims family and our community

there's no doubt that the courageous

acts

of our men and women at the san jose

police department

save lives and help rescue the over 40

employees that were

present at this facility again i'm

extremely proud at the partnership that

we have with our service department

the fire department our federal partners

again to limit the loss and the tragedy

that has occurred today

we are here to support our community our

families

and our law enforcement partners as we

are help them with their investigation

thank you for your continued support of

the san jose police department

and of all law enforcement here in the

county

we're going to introduce the san jose

fire department chief robert sapiens jr

good afternoon my name is robert sapian

san jose fire department

fire chief this morning at about 6 30

a.m

three significant incidents unfolded

that required us

to mobilize all of our on-duty available

resources

unfortunately the second of those events

was

the younger incident where our personnel

were dispatched to an emergency medical

services call

and ultimately we learned it was

this active shooter event

our personnel very quickly employed

their training and equipment which

allows them to

tactically integrate with law

enforcement officers

in today's event there is some relief

in reporting to you that the operations

could not have

gone more efficiently or effectively the

training that our firefighters received

in cooperation with our law enforcement

partners

allows them to treat trauma victims

as quickly as possible to give them

their best chance at survival

at today's event as i said operations

ran as trained and so

we are very

thankful that we were able to be here to

provide assistance

we were very sad for the losses in our

community

and we continue to be present to support

our community

thank you

the fire there was a shooting and what

else so i'm going to introduce next is a

gene cohen from the south bay labor

council

good afternoon my name is gene cohen i'm

the executive officer of the south bay

labor council

we are here with all the working men and

women in santa clara county to stand

with our atu brothers and sisters

today is about supporting victims it's

about sending love

and support to everyone who came to work

this morning intending on serving the

public

and ended up not going home it's

unacceptable and what we're asking for

right now is for there to be respect

and love that's dedicated and shown to

all of these workers

they need money they need support and we

need to make sure that their families

are

also being respected in terms of giving

them their space to mourn

so thank you so much for the opportunity

to make sure that all of our workers

have the opportunity to let you know

that when you go to work you should be

able to go back safely

and that right now we're going to be

making sure that as a family we're

taking care of each other

thank you very much

okay i just would like to close by

saying this is an active sheriff's

office investigation

and we will continue to provide you

updates but

again the deputy sheriffs from the

sheriff's office

the officers from san jose police

department ran into the building the

shots were being fired

and i know that it saved many lives

thanks to

the fire department also so being part

of our active shooter protocol

and our rescue team so we had some

heroics that i think

resulted in

a diminished loss of life you know we're

real proud of the people who have

who serve in this county that responded

to this incident

and we will take some questions and

um you can direct the questions that any

of the speakers if you would like

any more details where the uh

fatalities and locations like i was

saying earlier it's still preliminary at

this point

so one we have to get the sheriff's

office bomb squad in there to clear the

area

for investigators will go in and conduct

their investigation so this is going to

be a very timely and methodical

situation so it's going to take a lot of

time so i don't have that information

though

it's within that facility area i don't

have those answers at this point it's

still preliminary

it can be either i don't have that

information at this point

so on top of the on top of the

fatalities that i mentioned there is one

person

at a local trauma hospital with that's

listed in critical condition at this

point

was the shooter legal gun owner and can

you

say what the weapon was that he used

right now i don't have that information

in regards to what weapon was used in

that information

so are there bodies that are still

inside the facility that you have not

been able to recover

and remove yet and is that why there has

been some delay

in definitively telling family members

what's happened to loved ones that

yeah so we have investigators on scene

with the santa clara county coroner's

office right now

so they're doing their investigation to

follow up to see what they have and also

contact the next kin

we just want to make sure we ensure the

privacy for the family and loved ones

that were involved in this situation

i'm sorry were there any weapons that's

still ongoing

weapons regarding with the the suspect's

house we don't have that information

right now it's still ongoing in that

the fire at his case and the shooting

did the fire

erupt before he left to go to so i know

there's some speculation saying there's

a house fire within the city of san jose

and then something involved with this

again we're using the investigators to

determine if there is any type of

connection to that case but right now

it's still preliminary and ongoing

i don't have that information at this

point so in regards with the house fight

any other questions were discovered or

indicated by

an explosive protecting dog in the

building correct so there's an

explosives detection dog an eod dog is

what we call that detected on a

suspicious device

immediately we activate the santa clara

county sheriff's office bomb squad

and they're going to use their protocol

and pretty much canvas that whole area

to ensure that it's safe

for our investigators to go in and

conduct their investigation at that

point so it's going to be a very

timely methodical we're going to be

there throughout the night to

clear every room and every crevice of

that building we know that is a very big

building

and we're going to use everything

because we want to ensure the safety for

the deputies and investigators and

everyone else around

um that it's it's clear and safe are

they just searching the building or they

will they also search the light rail

trains tracks the area around

we're going to search everywhere we're

going to do everything in all our in

all do for us and we're going to use all

the resources that we have

and that's why we have multiple

surrounding law enforcement agencies

here

including federal agencies to assist us

with this investigation

i don't know if it was a drive it was a

passerby or somebody inside the building

that called 911 but it got received to

us at 6 30 for this morning

i don't know if they're in the same

place i know that they were employees

i'll tell you that the suspect um that

was that was um

deceased is an employee from vta one

more question then we're going to wrap

it up

i'm sorry can you describe the

explosives that we're found explosives

we're still it's still preliminary we're

trying to

we're the bomb squad's doing everything

they can to utilize and find

everything we're going to use everything

from precursor chemicals to any type of

explosive devices

to any type of objects and materials

we're going to use all of that and

determine exactly what

a dog sniffed one has any more been

found or is it just the one for right

now

once we have one type of when the dog

smells on something and has a scent

we're going to activate the bomb squad

we're going to utilize those resources

during the union meeting i don't know

that's still again preliminary

and then we're still still trying to get

that information what i'll tell you

right now just to wrap things up

this is our last press conference um for

today we're going this incident

again please give us patience and time

with us we want to be very methodical

and very transparent and make sure we do

a thorough investigation on this so

please give us time

i know you want more information please

bear with us and then once we have more

information we will send out an updated

press release department a press release

statement from our agency okay

thank you everybody what were the three

different incidents and utilize

all your resources

thank you for the question a little more

information on the three incidents so

at 0 6 29 this morning

we received a report of fire on smith

avenue which is a commercial area of

town

or commercial industrial rather that

ultimately was a second alarm fire

the second incident as i said was this

incident here on younger and the latter

was in a residential area

in town on eggmark court that's

a-n-g-n-a-r

port and that ultimately

the third call was at 0

6 36 hours

the information i have is that the fire

on angmar is under investigation and

that's all i know

our firefighters are equipped with

ballistic protection

which is

i do not have reports of fatality so

we're gonna wrap up this pressed

uh press statement um everyone here will

be here for individual interviews if

you're interested and then

we'll wrap that up thank you everyone

for coming out