San Jose police have announced the arrest of a 17-year-old youth in connection with the Black Friday shooting at Westfield Valley Fair that wounded three people — including a teen girl bystander — and sent shoppers fleeing for the exits at the city’s largest indoor mall, on one of its busiest days of the year.
San Jose police shared this photo on Monday, Dec. 1, 2025, of a suspect they arrested in the shooting that injured three people on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025 at Westfield Valley Fair Mall in San Jose, Ca.
Police Chief Paul Joseph said the suspect was arrested late Sunday in San Jose, and that the gunfire was fueled by a “spontaneous” clash with someone he perceived to be a rival gang member.
“Indiscriminate gunshots were fired across the mall breezeway, leaving three injured but, miraculously, no one dead,” Joseph said at a Monday news conference. “Since Friday, every available resource has been dedicated to apprehending the shooter.”
A 21-year-old woman who had accompanied the suspect while pushing a baby in a stroller is expected to be charged as an accessory to the shooting after allegedly helping him escape the ensuing chaos, authorities said.
Joseph added that the suspect came to the mall on Friday with a gun tucked inside his waistband. He had a prior concealed gun charge from a February arrest, for which he avoided a criminal conviction through a deferred judgment.
Authorities said they had not yet recovered the weapon used in Friday’s shooting.
Joseph, criticizing what he said is a lack of sufficient consequences for underage offenders involved in violent crimes, also pointed to the fatal Valentine’s Day stabbing at nearby Santana Row, involving a 13-year-old male suspect.
“I’m not sure what tragedy will finally be the watershed moment when we fix what is clearly broken,” the chief said.
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan echoed the sentiment, and lauded the swift work of a police response and investigation that grew to involve the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, Santa Clara police, the FBI and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the California Highway Patrol.
“This arrest means a lot to our city because there were not just three victims on Friday. There were thousands,” Mahan said at the news conference.
He added that a flurry of social media videos that depicted the panic, terror and chaos among fleeing shoppers also “show a story of care. I watched store employees opening their doors for those fleeing. Neighbors rolling up their garage doors and helping people shelter. Police officers from San Jose and Santa Clara working together to protect our families … The bottom line is this: 100,000 people came through the mall that day and all 100,000 eventually went home. This tragedy could have ended a whole lot differently.”
District Attorney Jeff Rosen said his office is reviewing potential charges for both the shooting suspect and the woman suspected of helping him. An arraignment would likely occur Wednesday, based on the day of the arrest.
“We will be filing serious charges against at least two of the individuals, including the shooter,” Rosen said Monday. “Please be assured that these defendants, including the juvenile who is on probation for carrying a concealed weapon, will be held strictly and severely accountable … I hope as we do our work to keep our community safe that Valley Fair will go right back to being a happy place where kids can meet Santa Claus.”
The teen suspect did not know the man he confronted and shot, Joseph said, adding that they perceived each other as rival gang members.
The man wounded in the shooting — as well as an adult woman and an underage girl who were wounded but not involved in the clash — had been released from the hospital by Monday.
“It seemed like it all developed awfully quickly,” Joseph said. “I don’t think there could have been a whole lot of interaction between them before the shooting.”
The Friday afternoon shooting garnered national headlines, due in part to its location inside a mall and broader news media interest in consumer mayhem on Black Friday, which for years has been an unofficial start to the holiday shopping season.
The shooting was reported around 5:40 p.m. on a second-floor walkway just outside of the Macy’s department store on the San Jose side of the mall. Valley Fair, located on Stevens Creek Boulevard, sits both in San Jose and Santa Clara, with the city border bisecting the property.
After the shooting, the mall was evacuated while San Jose police officers scoured the facility in search of the shooter and to ensure the property was safe.
A mall worker who spoke to Bay Area News Group said he was working at a bar when he saw hordes of scared shoppers “storm in,” and realized they were seeking shelter from the shots. He said people left through the rear exits and were greeted by arriving police officers carrying rifles and urging everyone to get clear of the mall.
Social media was flooded with photo and video accounts of the frenzied reaction to the shooting, as some sought shelter and others rushed toward any nearby exit. One shopper recounted hiding in a storage room with her children.
Eduardo Barocio, an 18-year-old Oakland man, said he had just arrived at the mall when he heard what sounded like eight to 10 gunshots, and soon saw people running. He told this news organization that he ran to a parking lot and later saw two officers leave the mall with a man who had an apparent chest wound.
Mahan also emphasized the benefit of city-run youth job programs targeting teens considered to be susceptible to gang influence and recruitment.
“Clearly, there’s still a lot of work to do,” he said. “This horrible tragedy is yet another reminder that protecting our children is one of the best investments we can make in creating a safer city.”
Staff writers Jason Green and Kyle Martin contributed to this report.