A San Jose Police Department sniper has been cleared of any wrongdoing in the fatal shooting of a machete-wielding man who threatened to decapitate a woman and her two children, according to a report by the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office. The incident, which took place on March 22, 2023, ended with Officer Edward Carboni shooting the suspect, Eliobert Gonzalez, 35, after a 30-minute standoff.
Gonzalez, who was also armed with a loaded pellet gun made to look like a .357 Magnum had broken into the family's apartment earlier that evening, following his eviction from a nearby apartment that same morning; he then forced the mother to tie up her older son and threatened to kill and behead them if they did not assist him in regaining access to his former residence, all the while ignoring the mother’s appeals for mercy and God’s forgiveness. In the report by the DA's office, prosecutor Rob Baker wrote, "Officer Edward Carboni made a reasonable tactical decision, based on his extensive training and experience as a MERGE (tactical) officer, that saved the lives of a mother and her two boys from an erratic and violent machete-wielding man."
Body-worn camera footage revealed the tense moments leading up to the fatal shots, which showed Carboni firing through the bedroom window where Gonzalez was holding the hostages. The update from Henry K. Lee confirmed that no criminal charges would be filed against Officer Carboni, who has been previously investigated three times for use of potentially lethal force determined to be lawful in each instance.
UPDATE: No criminal charges against @SanJosePD MERGE (SWAT) Ofc. Edward Carboni, who shot and killed Eliobert Gonzalez-Rocha after he broke into apartment & threatened to behead a mother & her 2 sons w/machete, mistaking her for manager, per #SantaClaraDA,releasing body-cam video pic.twitter.com/TRyhD1OAAV
— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) February 20, 2024
Amid these revelations was the poignant detail shared by the older son, who pointed out, it was a harrowing brush with the sort of violence they had fled their native country to escape, and yet here they were, at the brink of death from a similar brutal fate. The District Attorney’s Office stands behind the decision, as it investigates all fatal law enforcement encounters to determine the legality of the use of deadly force, which is permitted when there's a reasonable need to protect oneself or others from apparent, imminent threats of death, or great bodily injury."
