SAN JOSE — Attempted murder charges have been filed against a man who police say wounded two officers in a close-quarters shootout at a South San Jose hotel then tried to escape by leaping out of a third-story window, court records show.
Authorities said that Kevin Briones, 33, shot and wounded two San Jose police officers at a South San Jose motel on Thursday, May 2, 2024. He was later taken into custody.
Kevin Briones, 33, of San Jose, was arrested Thursday night, about a half hour after he allegedly shot the officers, who were responding to a domestic violence call involving a woman who had obtained a restraining order against him.
Briones, who was the subject of two arrest warrants at the time, was also shot and wounded when one of the officers fired back. He was formally scheduled to be arraigned Monday on two counts of attempted murder and one count of illegally possessing a firearm, but was not expected to appear in court because he remains in the hospital in critical condition with multiple injuries.
A probable cause affidavit accompanying the criminal complaint offers a new degree of detail about the harrowing gun battle that erupted in an upper-floor hallway of the Extended Stay America on San Ignacio Avenue.
Officer Jamie Arredondo, a one-year member of the San Jose Police Department, was seriously injured after reportedly being hit multiple times by Briones’ gunfire. Arredondo, who was identified this past weekend by the San Jose Police Officers’ Association, is also in critical condition at a local hospital but is expected to survive.
Officer Joseph Desroches was identified by the union as the second officer who responded to the domestic violence call around 10:30 p.m. Thursday. Acting Police Chief Paul Joseph lauded Desroches’ bravery at a Friday news conference, saying the officer pulled Arredondo to safety and had already applied a tourniquet on his partner before discovering that he himself had been hit by a bullet. Emergency dispatch recordings indicated that Desroches suffered a graze wound; he was treated at a hospital and released hours after the shooting.
According to San Jose police, a woman and her three children — ages 8, 10 and 15 — were staying in a third-floor room at the hotel. The woman had called police earlier in the night to report that Briones — against whom she had secured a restraining order — was heading their way. Police responded to the hotel, but Briones was not there, and they left.
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Within an hour, police said Briones showed up and started knocking on the woman’s room door, and the woman called the hotel front desk who then contacted police. According to the police affidavit, Arredondo, Desroches and a third officer arrived, went to the woman’s room, and saw Briones carrying a skateboard and walking away. They ordered him to “hang tight” stay where he was. Briones apparently responded by reaching his left hand into a duffel bag he was carrying.
Detectives wrote in the affidavit that Desroches reached for Briones’ left hand, prompting Briones to run away while holding a T-shirt in his hands. Arredondo and Desroches chased after him, and Briones dropped the shirt and pointed a stolen 9mm Glock pistol at the trailing officers and fired eight rounds.
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That caused Desroches to fall on his back, and he fired nearly a dozen rounds toward Briones, who was hit at least three times, detectives wrote, adding that the officer was hit by a bullet that grazed his leg and then hit his torso.
Arredondo was hit in his legs, abdomen, shoulder and arm, the affidavit states.
Briones, who detectives wrote was shot in the torso and arm, kept running away then plowed through a plate-glass window and fell three stories, causing him to suffer a fractured neck and collapsed lung. He was arrested after reportedly trying to hide in some bushes after crawling to the grounds of a neighboring hotel property.
The affidavit states that police recovered 19 bullet casings from the hallway and that the walls were pock marked by bullet strikes.
At the time of the shooting, Briones had arrest warrants issued for him involving domestic violence and probation violation allegations, and he was prohibited from possessing firearms because of a prior conviction for criminal threats.
