Officers responded to multiple reports of a shooting in the parking lot of the Executive Inn Hotel located at 95 Dempsey Road at about 10:30 p.m., Lt. Sandy Holliday said.
Before the shooting a party was taking place on the third floor of the hotel and a loud argument was heard. Police are investigating if there is any connection.
Holliday said the reporting parties told dispatchers they heard four shots.
When officers arrived, they found many "hysterical people" outside and an unresponsive man lying in the parking lot suffering from a gunshot wound, according to Holliday.
Holliday said it is unknown if the victim, described only as a man 20 to 25 years old, was staying at the hotel or visiting.
It is unknown if the shooting is gang-related, she said.
Police are "dealing with limited details" of the suspect vehicle, which fled after the shooting, Holliday said.
The suspect vehicle is only described as a dark sedan, according to Holliday.
The homicide is the city's first of the year. There was one homicide in all of 2013 in Milpitas, on June 7 at a Sports Authority store in the Great Mall.
The accused killer in that homicide, 26-year-old Nathaniel Manlangit, was found to be not guilty by reason of insanity on Jan. 9.
