San Jose Police Chief Anthony Mata has released more details regarding the dramatic exchange of gunfire that left a carjacking suspect dead late Wednesday.
During a press conference on Friday, Mata revealed that the suspect had been using a ghost gun, which is an untraceable firearm and has been assembled at home.
The suspect, Robert Seth Carter, was driving a stolen vehicle and attempted to carjack another vehicle in Santa Clara while armed with a handgun, but was unsuccessful, Mata described. According to the chief, Carter then crashed in the first stolen car at the intersection of Park and Hedding in San Jose, and while fleeing, tried to stop a passing car by waving the gun at it.
It was then the police officer began to approach the suspect from the other direction.
"Carter then fired a round in the direction of the passing vehicle and the approaching officer," he said. "The officer returned fire."
More officers arrived on the scene and in total four fired their weapons, hitting Carter multiple times. He was pronounced dead later at a nearby hospital.
Police have now disclosed that the gun found at the scene was likely privately made and unregistered – a ghost gun – which is becoming a bigger problem in the Bay Area. "In the last several years we've seen an increase in the use of ghost guns," said Mata.
This is the city's first police shooting this year after two last year.
