San Jose carjacking suspect identified as Muhammed Hussein of Davis; crime spree started in Sacramento days before shootout
A violent crime spree in Northern California ended in a deadly police shootout Wednesday, and the chaotic scene was captured on video.
The multi-day crime spree, which included several armed robberies and carjackings, spanned across multiple counties and cities. The suspect, identified as 30-year-old Muhammed Hussein, died after he was run over by police.
Meantime, a police sergeant was shot in the head and is expected to survive.
"Under fire, wounded and under extreme stress, his training and resolve kicked in," said San Jose Police Chief Paul Joseph. "Only a person with a warrior spirit could fight through an encounter like that and live."
Joseph called it "a scene none of us ever want to witness in real life."
"It's the kind of footage people might expect from an action movie, but this was not a movie," he said. "This was a battle for that sergeant's life unfolding in the middle of our city in broad daylight with members of the public in the crossfire."
According to Joseph, on Jan. 17, Hussein stole a red Corvette from a dealership in Sacramento and committed multiple armed robberies in Northern California and the Bay Area over the following days.
On Wednesday, license plate readers spotted the Corvette in San Jose, but officers were not able to find the driver.
A police chase began when Hussein stole a bright green Corvette at gunpoint from a dealership in San Jose, according to police.
The police helicopter followed the suspect about 45 miles south to Hollister, where the man got into a shootout with San Benito sheriff's deputies and Hollister Police.
Then, the suspect stole another car in Hollister -- which was captured on cell phone video -- then drove back to San Jose as he fired at California Highway Patrol officers along the way.
It all ended in downtown San Jose, as shown in video from a law enforcement helicopter obtained by Fugitive.com.
You can see the suspect shoot the SJPD sergeant, hitting him in the head and fracturing his skull, before trying to steal the sergeant's patrol car and running off.
Police then shot Hussein and ran him over.
"Nothing about a deadly force encounter is pretty," Joseph said. "At that point, you have an incredibly dangerous situation with a dangerous individual and that individual needs to be stopped, and whatever means the officers needed to use to stop that individual, they made a decision in that moment."
A lengthy investigation will now begin into that fatal use of force and all images and video collected by police, including body camera footage, will be released in 45 days per state law.
KGO-TV contributed to this report.
