Jul 6, 2009 8:32 pm US/Pacific
Standoff Ends With 2 Found Dead Inside SJ Home
SAN JOSE (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ―
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Police on the scene of the standoff Monday.
CBS
A standoff at a South San Jose townhome where a gunman held his ex-wife hostage Monday came to an end after five hours, when both people were found dead inside.
The situation began unfolding around 8:30 a.m. Monday after police received a call from a neighbor reporting gunshots at the home.
Neighbor Sana Abbasi said she heard "loud bangs," followed by someone yelling, "He's got a gun!"
San Jose police Officer Jermaine Thomas said the 39-year-old gunman barricaded himself with a 35-year-old woman inside the townhome on Esfahan Drive, a new street off Monterey Highway that is part of the Montecito Vista housing development.
Thomas said the standoff appeared to stem from what he called, "some type of family dispute."
While he did not indicate how the suspect and hostage were related, neighbors said the woman was the suspect's ex-wife.
The couple's 9-year-old daughter escaped the home unharmed. Neighbor Tony Gallardo said he found the girl near the side of his home Monday morning crying hysterically. He took her inside until police arrived.
Members of the SJPD's MERGE unit, akin to a SWAT team, could be seen entering and exiting the courtyard adjacent to the townhome where the suspect and victim were barricaded throughout the day.
The officers who surrounded the home said they heard several loud bangs from inside it around noontime.
When police finally entered the home at 3:30 p.m., they found a man and woman dead of gunshot wounds, according to Thomas.
Kamran Khan and some of the other nearby residents who were evacuated by the police during the standoff said they believed the incident was triggered by a bitter custody dispute between the estranged couple.
Kahn noted that in happier times he had had often seen the couple playing Frisbee and ball outside with their young daughter.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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