San Jose law enforcement officials released videos Monday showing a chaotic, deadly police shooting in January in which an officer survived being struck in the head by a bullet.
Mohamed Husien, 30, was killed Jan. 21 after he was run over and shot during an intense firefight with police at an intersection in San Jose following two days of robberies and at least three vehicle thefts, officials said.
SJPD Chief Paul Joseph described the shootout as “the closest thing to war they have ever witnessed.” Different vantage points depicting the deadly encounter between police and Husien were captured in police radio traffic, helicopter video and body-worn camera footage shared by police Monday.
Husien’s alleged crime spree began the morning of Jan. 20 in Sacramento, when Husien and his alleged accomplice, Edward Macias, 29, stole a red Corvette from a dealership and later drove it to the Bay Area, San Jose police said.
After arriving in the Bay Area, the pair robbed a convenience store at gunpoint in San Mateo County and then drove to San Jose to hold up a liquor store, police said. The next day, the two robbed two more stores at gunpoint, one in Santa Clara and another in San Jose, police said.
SJPD’s intelligence center flagged the corvette for authorities using license plate readers and gave patrol officers locations where it had been spotted. Officers located the vehicle and chased it, but the car got away and officers later found it unoccupied.
The same day at about 2:01 p.m., officers responded to a report of an armed carjacking at a dealership in South San Jose. Police said Husien brandished a firearm at a dealership employee and stole a green Corvette.
Shortly after the carjacking, an SJPD helicopter found the Corvette in traffic, driving south on Highway 101. San Jose police notified Hollister police and the San Benito County Sheriff’s Office that they were tracking the vehicle.
Hollister officers and sheriff’s deputies engaged the vehicle in a low-speed pursuit until the car “became disabled,” police said. When Husien got out of the car, a brief shootout broke out before Husien was able to flee.
When police found Husien a short time later, another shootout broke out. Husien escaped again, carjacking a white Honda at gunpoint and fleeing back toward San Jose, police said. Officers from multiple law enforcement agencies immediately began chasing Husien northbound on Highway 101.
When Husien got off the freeway and reentered San Jose, footage from a police helicopter showed him colliding with a white SUV at the intersection of Notre Dame Avenue and Julian Street.
The video showed Husien exiting the car and pointing a handgun at a patrol vehicle as it barrels through a gap in traffic and almost hits him. Police said Husien was shooting at the patrol vehicle as it passed him, and video shows Husien standing in the intersection firing multiple rounds at officers in a patrol vehicle.
With bullets flying by, the officer driving steps out of the vehicle with a gun drawn and was immediately shot in the hand, body-worn camera video shows. Moments later, the video showed a spray of blood landing on the officer’s sleeve. Police said the officer was shot in the head, fracturing his skull. The officer was taken to a local hospital and was expected to recover.
While still bleeding profusely from his head, the officer can be seen returning fire at Husien as bullets slam into the car and shatter its windows, raining shards of glass on the officer. Husien can be seen approaching the patrol vehicle, getting in, exiting and then running toward another vehicle stopped at the intersection.
Multiple officers swarmed the intersection while shooting at Husien until he fell to the ground.
Immediately after falling, video shows Husien being struck by a patrol vehicle at high speed. Police said hitting Husien with a car was necessary to dislodge the firearm from his hand. The firearm was a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol with a 30-round extended clip, police said.
Police said Husien was still moving after getting shot and hit by the patrol vehicle. Video from body-worn cameras of several officers showed police spraying Husien with bullets as he lay on the ground.
The shooting remained under investigation, with prosecutors and independent oversight agencies reviewing the incident.
Macias, Husien’s alleged accomplice, was arrested on Jan. 28 in connection with the string of robberies and is being held in the Santa Clara County Jail. Hollister police and the San Benito Sheriff’s office are separately investigating the officer-involved shootings there.
This article originally published at ‘Closest thing to war’: Videos show San Jose officer survive headshot before carjacker’s killing.