By the time the green Corvette rolled to a stop near Hollister, several agencies had already lost and regained sight of the same suspect more than once. Hours later, the pursuit ended back in downtown San Jose with a veteran sergeant critically wounded and bystanders describing a scene that sounded like a war zone.
According to police and local reporting, the events began with an allegedly stolen sports car in Sacramento and unfolded across multiple Bay Area counties. What is clear is that one man is dead, a San Jose police sergeant remains hospitalized, and investigators are now trying to piece together how a property crime investigation escalated into multiple gunfights on public roads.
The Alleged Crime Spree Across Counties
At a news conference, San Jose Police Chief Paul Joseph identified the suspect as 30-year-old Mohamed Husien of Davis, California. He said Husien’s alleged crime spree began in mid-January in Sacramento, where he is accused of stealing a red Corvette before heading toward the Bay Area and committing a series of robberies across multiple jurisdictions, according to a report by Fox News Digital that summarized the briefing.
A Davis man who died in a shootout with San Jose police stole a corvette from a Sacramento dealership at the beginning of a multi-day crime spree involving multiple armed robberies and carjackings, police say.
Read more in the comments.https://t.co/rXG6nhSu6N pic.twitter.com/0MIJq8DOjR
— FOX40 News (@FOX40) January 23, 2026
The details of those earlier robberies are not yet fully public. Fox News Digital, citing a law enforcement source, reported that Husien was wanted in connection with multiple robberies in East Palo Alto and San Mateo. Those allegations have not yet been detailed in public charging documents, and no comprehensive list of incidents has been released.
Authorities say the violence escalated when Husien allegedly carried out an armed carjacking at a San Jose auto mall and took a green Corvette at gunpoint. That incident moved the case from a property crime to an armed confrontation. It also drew in more agencies through California’s automated alert systems and regional cooperation protocols.
From License Plate Hit to Slow-Speed Pursuit
San Jose police say the department’s Real Time Intelligence Center flagged the earlier stolen red Corvette through automated license plate reader cameras. According to the department’s account, analysts provided patrol units with recent locations of the vehicle in San Jose before the incident escalated.
Automated license plate readers are widely used across California to identify stolen vehicles and wanted suspects. Civil liberties groups have raised concerns about data retention and sharing, but in this case, police say the technology helped them track a car linked to violent crimes in near real time.
A San Jose police helicopter began following the suspect as he traveled south into San Benito County and relayed information to local agencies. Around mid-afternoon, Hollister police and San Benito County sheriff’s deputies were alerted and soon located the Corvette near Central Avenue and Miller Road, according to the Fox News Digital summary of police statements.
Officers engaged in what they described as a slow-speed pursuit that ended near Buena Vista Road and Westside Boulevard when the car became disabled. At that point, according to police, Husien got out of the vehicle with a handgun and fired at officers. Deputies and officers returned fire, and Husien fled on foot.
Multiple Shootouts and a Return to San Jose
Authorities say Husien was confronted again near Buena Vista Road and Line Street, where sheriff’s deputies also exchanged gunfire with him. Investigators have not yet disclosed how many shots were fired at each location or which agencies discharged weapons in each exchange.
Police say Husien then carjacked another vehicle at gunpoint and headed back toward San Jose. During that pursuit, according to the Fox News account, he allegedly fired at California Highway Patrol officers on the roadway.
The chase ultimately ended near Julian and Terraine streets in San Jose, just off Highway 87, where there was another reported exchange of gunfire. Police say Husien was killed during that confrontation and that a San Jose police sergeant was wounded by gunfire from the suspect. Bystanders told reporters that they heard 20 to 30 shots. A portion of Highway 87 was closed for several hours while investigators processed the scene and documented evidence.
🚨#Breaking A San Jose Police officer was shot in a shootout with an armed carjacking suspect at the end of a pursuit in Downtown San Jose. A suspect carjacked a green corvette in San Jose at around 2:40 PM, the suspect then ditched that vehicle in the City of Hollister, where he… pic.twitter.com/qni2obEynx
— CodeThreeNews (@CodeThreeNews) January 22, 2026
San Jose police emphasize that their ground units did not join the active pursuit until the chase reentered city limits, although a department helicopter had been monitoring and sharing information with outside agencies throughout the incident.
A Wounded Sergeant and Public Praise
San Jose police said the wounded sergeant was taken to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. As of the latest public update cited by Fox News Digital, he remained in critical but stable condition and was expected to recover. The department reported that he was in good spirits.
At the briefing, Chief Joseph described both the danger and the psychological impact on officers and residents. He said, “Every officer involved in yesterday’s harrowing incident will carry the heaviness of what happened for the rest of their lives.” He added, “Some members of the public who were caught in the crossfire described it as the closest thing to war they have ever witnessed, and that gives you a sense of how intense and terrifying those moments were, not just for officers, but for the community.”
In a statement shared with local station KGO and relayed in the Fox News report, San Jose Police Officers’ Association President Steve Slack praised the officers’ actions. He said, “The incredible bravery exhibited by every officer, especially the SJPD sergeant who was shot and hospitalized after confronting the dangerous criminal, was on full display.” Slack said the suspect “had no regard for anyone’s life and endangered hundreds of innocent people during his multiple-county crime spree.”
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan focused on the injured officer’s demeanor. According to his remarks quoted by Fox News Digital, the officer’s first words at the hospital were, “Make sure someone takes care of my dogs.” Mahan said, “That’s the kind of person he is. That’s the kind of people we have on our San Jose police force, people who put their lives on the line to protect our families during the day and then go home at night to take care of their own families.”
Video, Body Cameras, and the Cause of Death
Even as officials praised officers’ conduct, several key facts about the final confrontation remain unresolved.
Video circulating on social media appears to show the suspect entering and exiting a police vehicle before collapsing as officers approach, according to Fox News Digital. At the time of that outlet’s reporting, San Jose police said they could not confirm whether Husien had actually entered a patrol car.
That uncertainty matters because it touches on how close officers were when shots were fired, whether officers believed the suspect was attempting to seize a weapon or vehicle, and how the final sequence of events unfolded. The department has said the medical examiner will determine the official manner and cause of death.
In California, officer-involved shootings that result in death typically trigger multiple layers of review. According to the California Department of Justice, the state attorney general’s office is required to investigate certain incidents in which unarmed civilians are killed by law enforcement. Local district attorneys and internal affairs units also conduct their own investigations, and departments usually review incidents against their own use-of-force policies.
San Jose police have not yet publicly released a full incident report, body camera footage, or a detailed accounting of which officers fired their weapons and when. Those records often take weeks or months to compile, especially in complex, multi-agency events that cross county lines.
Risk to Bystanders and Questions of Tactics
Throughout the incident, gunfire occurred on public roads, near residential areas, and ultimately in a dense part of downtown San Jose. Members of the public told reporters they heard dozens of shots, and at least a portion of Highway 87 had to be shut down while officers searched for evidence and ensured that no other people were injured.
As of the most recent reports, authorities have not announced any civilian gunshot injuries linked to the pursuit and shootouts. It is not yet clear whether there were any non-gunshot injuries related to crashes or evasive driving during the chases.
In similar cases around the country, outside reviews often look at questions such as:
Item 1: Whether initiating or continuing a vehicle pursuit in dense areas matched departmental policy, given the risk to bystanders.
Item 2: How many rounds were fired by officers from each agency and in which specific locations?
Item 3: Whether less-lethal options were available at any point when the suspect was on foot or partially contained.
Item 4: How clearly each involved agency communicated about jurisdiction, command, and strategy as the suspect crossed county lines.
No agency has yet released that level of analysis for this incident. For now, most of what the public knows comes from briefings and selective descriptions provided by police leaders and union officials, along with limited eyewitness accounts.
What Remains Unknown
Key facts about Husien’s alleged earlier robberies, his access to firearms, and his movements between January 17 and the final pursuit have not been made public. It is also not yet clear which agency will take the lead in providing a comprehensive narrative of events, given the involvement of departments in Sacramento, San Jose, Hollister, San Benito County, and the California Highway Patrol.
As investigations move forward, officials will likely have to address how many shots were fired by law enforcement and by Husien, whether any tactical changes could have reduced the risk to the public, and precisely how the final minutes near Julian and Terraine streets unfolded. Until the full investigative files and any body camera footage are released, the most consequential moments of a chase that spanned multiple counties remain only partially visible to the people who live and work along that route.
