Updated 10:35 p.m. PT Tuesday, Oct. 13: San Jose police have identified the man officers shot and killed Sunday night on Locke Drive as Ted Lieu, 69, a San Jose resident they describe as the landlord in a weapons disturbance that began hours earlier. In a Tuesday afternoon release and news conference, the department said Lieu fired at least once toward officers from a shed before they returned fire. No officers were hurt.
What police say happened
According to the San José Police Department, patrol officers first went to a home in the 3200 block of Locke Drive at about 8:13 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 11, after a woman reported an altercation with her landlord, who she said was armed, and said he had assaulted a second person. Officers interviewed everyone and concluded the suspect had not brandished a firearm. The reporting party did not want to press charges at that time, police said, and officers left.
At about 9:32 p.m., the same woman called 911 again and reported that the landlord had brandished a firearm at her and a second roommate and held them against their will inside the house. Officers returned, police said, and determined that an assault with a deadly weapon, criminal threats and a possible kidnapping had occurred. Lieu had fled before they arrived. Officers got the victims out of the house and began searching the area.
Investigators learned Lieu was hiding a few houses away, in the 3100 block of Locke Drive. At about 11:13 p.m., officers found him in a shed outside that residence. Based on the preliminary investigation, police say he produced a firearm and fired at least once toward officers. Officers returned fire and struck him at least once. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they recovered a firearm there and an assault rifle from Lieu's residence.
Locke Drive sits just south of East Capitol Expressway and east of Andrew P. Hill High School in the Edenvale area. Police have not said the shooting had any connection to the campus.
What the chief added Tuesday
At a Tuesday news conference, Police Chief Paul Joseph said Lieu had a history of disturbances and conflicts with neighbors, tenants and others involving firearms and erratic behavior, CBS Bay Area reported. Joseph said an officer had previously taken a firearm from Lieu for safekeeping during an incident in which Lieu was placed on a 72-hour psychiatric hold, and that it was the only firearm registered to him. It was not yet clear where he got the other guns, Joseph said. He also said Lieu had an active warrant for an alleged January assault and battery involving the same tenants.
Earlier neighbor and housemate accounts
Before Tuesday's official update, a housemate who asked ABC7 not to be named said five people lived in the house, including the landlord, and that a female housemate called 911 after an argument over rent. Neighbor Stacey Suarez told ABC7 she saw officers with guns drawn and that the response left the neighborhood frightened. Those earlier accounts are consistent with the landlord dispute police later described in more detail.
Third fatal police shooting this year
The department said this was San Jose's third officer-involved shooting of 2026. Three officers fired, police said: two with seven years on the force and one with eight. All three had body-worn cameras on and are Crisis Intervention Team trained, according to SJPD. Case number 26-284-0724.
What happens next
The homicide unit and the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office are investigating. SJPD Internal Affairs, the City Attorney's Office and the Office of the Independent Police Auditor are also reviewing the case. Under California law, departments generally must release body-worn camera video of a shooting by officers within 45 days unless releasing it would interfere with an active investigation.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Sergeants Barragan or Yee or Detective Harrington of the San Jose Police Department's Homicide Unit at 408-277-5283, or through Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers.