8 killed in San Jose shooting, suspect also dead

A Santa Clara County sheriff's spokesman says eight people were killed in the San Jose railyard shooting. Deputy Russell Davis says the suspect also died Wednesday in the shooting at the Valley Transportation Authority light railyard.

No identities have been released.

Gunfire erupted Wednesday at a railyard serving Silicon Valley, and a sheriff's spokesman said multiple people were killed and wounded and that the suspect was dead.

Santa Clara County sheriff's spokesman Deputy Russell Davis said he could not specify the number of dead and wounded or describe how the suspect died.

The shooting took place around 6:30 a.m. at a light rail facility in San Jose next door to the sheriff's department and across a freeway from the airport. The facility is a transit control center that stores trains and has a maintenance yard.

Davis said he did not know the type of weapon used or whether the gunfire happened indoors or outdoors. He said the victims include Valley Transportation Authority employees.

The VTA provides bus, light rail and other transit services throughout Santa Clara County, the largest county in the Bay Area and home to Silicon Valley.

“A horrible tragedy has happened today, and our thoughts and love go out to the VTA family,” VTA Chairman Glenn Hendricks told a news conference.

VTA trains were already out on morning runs when the shooting occurred. Light rail service was to be suspended at noon and replaced with bus bridges, Hendricks said.

Two patients were transported to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, according to spokesperson Joy Alexiou. One person was pronounced dead upon arrival, and the other was in critical condition.

Outside the scene, Michael Hawkins told The Mercury News that he was waiting for his mother, Rochelle Hawkins, who had called him from a co-worker's phone to assure him that she was safe.

When the shooting started, “she got down with the rest of her coworkers” and dropped her cellphone, Michael Hawkins told the newspaper. Rochelle Hawkins did not see the shooter, and she was not sure how close she had been to the attacker, her son said.

The attack was the county's second shooting in less than two years. A gunman killed three people before killing himself at a popular garlic festival in Gilroy in July 2019.

At a news conference, San Jose Mayor Sam Licardo lamented the “horrific day for our city.” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a tweet that his office was “in close contact with local law enforcement and monitoring this situation closely.”

Agents from the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were responding to the crime scene, officials said.