Monday, September 28, 2009

SAN JOSE - GANG STABBINGS and MURDER

SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

Weekend fights: One fatally stabbed, six injured, San Jose police say
By Mark Gomez

09/28/2009


One person was killed and six others were wounded over the weekend in San Jose in two separate fights that police say may be gang-related.

The stabbing death was the city's 21st homicide this year; in 2008, 32 people were killed in San Jose.

Although police are investigating both cases as gang-related, police Sgt. Ronnie Lopez said the incidents, which happened Saturday and Sunday nights, are "in no way" connected.

The fatal stabbing happened Saturday night, when police say two groups got into a verbal altercation in the 100 block of South King Road. One of the groups left the area but returned a short time later, which is when the fight broke out, Lopez said. During the fight, four people suffered stab wounds, Lopez said.

All four people were taken to hospitals, Lopez said. One of the victims died Sunday, Lopez said.

As of Monday, police had not released his name.

Sunday night, three more people were stabbed during a fight east of downtown San Jose, Lopez said.

Police say six to 10 people were involved in the fight just before 9:30 p.m. on Locust Street, near McLaughlin Avenue and East William Street, according to officer Jermaine Thomas.

The first officers to arrive found two people with minor stab wounds and a third with moderate wounds, Thomas said. The three victims were taken to hospitals, Thomas said.

There are no suspects in custody and the incident remains under investigation, Thomas said.


"This was two incidents and unfortunately we had numerous victims," Lopez said.

Gang-related violence, including homicides, are down this year compared with 2008, according to police statistics. Not including this weekend's stabbing death, six of the city's 21 homicides have been classified as gang-related, compared with 15 in 2008, according to police.

The overall number of violent gang-related crimes decreased by 12 percent this summer from 2008, according to police.

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