A 19-year-old man is being held without bail in Santa Clara County following a deadly shooting in a Gilroy City Council member's home early Saturday morning.
Gilroy police and the Morgan Hill Regional SWAT team arrested Benjamin Calderon at around 4:15 p.m. on Saturday after serving a search warrant, officials said on Sunday. Calderon was booked into Santa Clara County Jail on homicide charges. One person was killed and three others were injured in the shooting, and police said two of the injured victims sustained life-threatening injuries.
Police said the shooting occurred at 1:35 a.m. on Saturday during a large, outdoor Halloween party at City Council Member Rebeca Armendariz' home. Armendariz was elected to the city council last year.
"I'm thankful that my family and I were not hurt in this tragedy, and I pray for those whose loved ones have been touched by what has occurred," Armendariz told KPIX in a statement on Saturday. "In the meantime, we are giving our full cooperation to the Gilroy Police Department in this investigation. Our primary concern is for the individuals impacted and their families."
When police arrived at the home on Saturday morning, they determined four people had been shot. One was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said there had been some kind of altercation when someone pulled out a gun and fired. The victims were as young as 17 and as old as 19.
"Our investigators are interviewing as many people they can get in for interviews … to determine the motive, the reason behind the altercation," Gilroy police Sgt. Lamonte Toney told KCBS Radio in an interview on Saturday before Calderon's arrest was announced. "But we don't have that at this point."
Calderon has a court hearing scheduled for Wednesday, according to Santa Clara County Jail records.
Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying the suspect. Anyone with information can call 408-846-0335.
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