Crime & Safety

Updated: Man Dies After Officer-Involved Shooting in Sunnyvale

The incident occurred during a covert drug probe during the afternoon.

Updated on Sept. 5 at 9:30 a.m. with news of man's death.

A man wounded in an officer-involved shooting Wednesday outside a restaurant in Sunnyvale during an undercover drug investigation has died of his injuries, a police captain said.

The Santa Clara Police Department and the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office worked the covert drug probe when the shooting took place around 3 p.m., according to Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety Capt. Dave Pitts.

The sheriff's office reported on Twitter this afternoon that one of its deputies was involved in the shooting and that Sunnyvale police are handling the investigation.

Pitts said he could not confirm the condition of the wounded man who was transported from the area to a hospital. The shots were directed at the suspect inside the parking lot of Hobee's restaurant at 800 W. Ahwanee Ave., near Mathilda Avenue and U.S. Highway 101, Pitts said.

Sunnyvale police officers knew about the operation in advance and were in the area to provide assistance, Pitts said. No one else was injured in the shooting and the investigation into it is in the early stages, Pitts said.

A clerk at a Motel 6 at 806 W. Ahwanee Ave. said he heard about 15 gunshots and then a saw a wounded person being transported from a pickup truck. The clerk, John Carroll, 69, said he heard shots ring out at about 2:30 p.m. outside the Hobee's restaurant. He said he then saw police cordon off the scene.

"They pretty much shut down the area pretty quickly," Carroll said, and added that the pickup had bullet holes in the windshield and on both the driver's and passenger's sides.

"As many shots that were fired, it's hard to believe" that the suspect survived, he said.

Sunnyvale police reported on Twitter at 3:22 p.m. that they were assisting in an investigation and that two lanes of North Mathilda Avenue were blocked.


Copyright © 2013 by Bay City News, Inc. -- Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.