SAN JOSE — A man who was shot and wounded downtown on New Year’s Day has died from his injuries, making him San Jose’s first homicide victim of the year, police said.
One day after the victim died, San Jose police announced that they arrested a man suspected of shooting him.
The shooting was reported at 6:10 p.m. in the 400 block of West Carlos Street, near the Highway 87 overpass, according to San Jose police.
Responding officers found a man at the location suffering from at least one gunshot wound, and he was rushed to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. Police said he died Monday; on Wednesday the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office identified him as Leroy Benjamin, 62, of San Jose.
In a news release, police said a man was arrested Tuesday in San Jose on suspicion of committing the fatal shooting, but that “the motive and circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation.” Sgt. Christian Camarillo, a police spokesman, told Bay Area News Group that the victim and suspect — who police have not publicly named — knew each other.
The first homicide investigated by San Jose police in 2022 did not occur until Feb. 8. The city recorded 35 homicides last year, with 20 of them the result of shootings, according to data compiled by this news organization.
Anyone with information about the Jan. 1 shooting can contact Detective Sgt. Ivan Barragan at 4106@sanjoseca.gov or Detective Elizabeth Ramirez at 4201@sanjoseca.gov or at 408-277-5283. Tips can also be left with Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408-947-7867 or at svcrimestoppers.org.
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