Officials say this all started as a simple, attempted traffic stop. The suspect led officers on a relatively low-speed chase on Highway 85 that led them to Campbell, then back to San Jose. It ended at Blossom and Calero avenues after about a 30 minute pursuit.
Investigators are collecting evidence, trying to piece together exactly how this happened.
In cellphone video taken by a witness you can see police cars swarming the neighborhood and then hear several gunshots.
Both officers and witnesses said they saw the suspect toss several items out the car during the chase.
"I see in his rear view mirror cops coming," witness Mary Lofstrom said. "I was like, maybe he's going a little too fast, maybe we're gonna get pulled over. And then over on the left side of us, this guy comes up on the shoulder on the left side, zooms by us and then cuts across and cuts us off and our friend that was with us on a bike."
At some point that chase did get pretty fast, as Lofstrom described.
Police say that suspect tossed a bag of baseball bats and purse out of the vehicle on Highway 85. They say they are piecing together exactly what led to shots being fire, but they did say the suspect rammed three police cruisers along the way.
Officials also tell us they are searching Highway 85 to see if there was a weapon that he may have tossed out in the process. At the moment they have not said if they've recovered a weapon at the crash scene.
Police say the suspect was shot to death. No officers were injured. And even though this is a very busy neighborhood, no bystanders were hurt.
