No charges for San Jose officers who fatally shot carjacking suspect

SAN JOSE – No charges will be filed against four San Jose police officers involved in a deadly shooting with a man involved in a pursuit and attempted armed carjacking earlier this year.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office announced Thursday that the January 19 shooting of Robert Seth Carter by officers Alex Gutierrez, Thomas Ortiz, Shayna Nail and Aidan Guy was lawful.

In a 41-page report on the shooting (.pdf), prosecutor Robert Baker said “…. there is abundant circumstantial evidence that Carter intended for the police to shoot and kill him.”

“Despite having a gun with no ammunition, he aimed it directly at Officer Gutierrez and ignored warnings to drop it. Once he was hit, Carter still refused to drop his gun. Even after Officer Ortiz fired multiple rounds, Carter propped himself up and raised his arm at the officers again, leading to the final volley that likely ended his life,” the report went on to say.

Carter had also told a close friend that he would die before going back to prison, prosecutors said.

According to authorities, Carter was parked in a stolen vehicle in Guadalupe River Park around 6:45 p.m. that night. After spotting a police car, Carter drove off on freeways and streets across the city, even driving against heavy oncoming traffic at one point.

Prosecutors said Carter drove into Santa Clara where he tried to carjack another motorist at gunpoint.

After the attempt failed, he drove back into San Jose where he crashed into another vehicle at Hedding Street and Park Avenue in the city’s Rose Garden neighborhood. The crash caused a fiery explosion.

Carter crawled out of the vehicle and fired a handgun at an approaching officer, prosecutors said. He then continued to flee on foot until he was confronted by another officer in a passing vehicle.

Prosecutors said Carter ignored the officer’s commands to drop the weapon, raising his arm and pointed the gun directly at the officer. Multiple officers responded by opening fire, hitting Carter at least nine times.

Carter was taken to Valley Medical Center where he was pronounced dead a short time later. An autopsy found that his blood contained methamphetamine and amphetamine.

According to reports at the time, the officers were not hurt during the confrontation with Carter. Two people inside the vehicle struck by Carter suffered minor to moderate injuries and were treated at the hospital.