The shooting on Sanborn Avenue took place at an unusual time, shortly before six in the morning. And, to many, one of the victims seems like an unlikely target.
"He's been involved with the community, you know, and he's just a good kid. I just can't see this happening to him," one man told ABC7.
26-year-old Iverson Cardona has worked the last four years at the Alma Senior Center. He was a van driver with an infectious smile and someone Toni Sanserverrino calls the kindest person she has ever met.
"When we go on trips, he helps all the seniors get on the vans," she says. "He'll hold our bags."
Iverson remained at a hospital Friday night. Sources say a 21-year-old Cristobal Perez Lopez was killed while standing with Iverson in his driveway and may have been involved with gangs. Iverson's mother heard the shots ring out.
'They heard the shots," a witness said. "They said there were several shots, not just one or two. They say several shots."
Before working at the senior center, Iverson worked for six years as a rec leader at the adjacent Alma Youth Center. The deadly shooting prompted a swift response from the mayor's gang task force.
"The one thing we don't want is this to turn into a scenario where there is back and forth retaliation. The violence has got to stop," told ABC7.
Late Friday afternoon, Councilwoman Madison Nyugen held an emergency community meeting at the Alma Senior Center so that police could update the community and reassure them.
"This incident was isolated to the people involved and that residence, and it wasn't an offshoot or result of the neighborhood itself," an officer said.
Police say the people who fired the shots were in a black pick-up truck. Around noon, they thought they might have found the truck, but it was not the suspect vehicle. People who know Iverson Cardona are relieved he survived the shooting.
"I don't know what to say about that boy. I wished he was my son. That's how nice he is," said.
The shooting is San Jose's 13th homicide this year.
