'Get rid of the baby': Wife of SJPD officer shooting suspect describes event in court documents
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- Court documents reveal what was happening inside a San Jose townhouse before, during and after a police officer was shot and critically injured while responding to a domestic violence call from a crying, pregnant woman.
ABC7 News reporter Zach Fuentes attained the Statement of Facts in the case against Gabriel Mario Carreras, 44. Carreras was arrested Wednesday for shooting the officer, following an hours-long standoff at Auzerais and Meridian. The officer remains hospitalized in critical condition.
The officer, identified in documents only as "Officer A.," suffered a single gunshot wound to her abdomen, resulting in injuries to her intestine, colon, liver and gallbladder, as well as a spinal fracture. Her injuries will require future major surgery, according to police.
Officer A. was dragged to safety by her partner in the moments after the shooting then rushed to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, where she remains hospitalized. She is the department's first female officer shot in the line of duty.
On Friday, San Jose Police sergeant Jorge Garibay, gave an update on that officer's condition.
"This officer is obviously going through a very tough time, the road to recovery is going to be hard and based on all the information we have at this time the officer's status will remain critical for quite some time," Garibay said adding, "We are fortunate that part of that status is stable."
RELATED: Longtime SJPD officer shot while on duty in stable but critical condition, authorities say
Documents reveal that the ordeal began at 6:15 a.m. Wednesday when the wife returned home and found Carreras "drunk on tequila" and packing his belongings, saying he wanted out of the marriage and ordering her to "get rid of the baby." She is approximately four weeks pregnant.
Carreras' wife says he became threatening so she hid in a bathroom and Carreras ripped the door off its hinges, entered the bathroom, and tried to hit her in the stomach. She says she called 911 then hid in a bedroom. She says he took her phone and threw it to the ground, damaging it.
MORE: 2 students stabbed at San Jose high school, police say
Carreras' wife says she then heard sirens and saw her husband walk to his bag and grab a western-style silver gun with a wood handle from his boot. Police say she later handed over a Smith and Wesson .38 special revolver that matches the description of the gun she saw him grab.
She ran to the bedroom, closed the door and hid. She then heard one gunshot. She says Carreras then came into the bedroom and told her that "everything was her fault" and that because of her, he had shot a police officer. She later heard two other gunshots. Police say those shots were fired at 9:36 a.m. and 9:37 a.m. They did not injure anyone.
About an hour after those shots were fired, at 10:40 a.m., police say Carreras' wife came out of the townhouse with the gun in her back pocket. She told police her husband had fallen asleep and dropped the gun. She then took the gun and got out of the townhouse.
At 12:23 p.m., police took Carreras into custody.
MORE: Child, great-grandmother fatally stabbed in San Jose apartment, police say
Police say Carreras will be arraigned Friday afternoon and will face several charges, including attempted murder of a police officer, assault and felon in possession of a firearm. If convicted, the suspect could face a life sentence in prison.
Police say the gun was not registered. Since Carreras is a convicted felon, he should not have had the gun.
"There are too many guns in too many dangerous people's hands. Too many people are getting shot, including police officers. Today, an officer lies badly wounded in the hospital for trying to save a pregnant woman. As we give our sincerest thanks to her and her heroic partner, we are determined to make sure this suspect will never see a gun or freedom again," said Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen in a statement.
Crews were at work Thursday to repair a broken gate at the condo complex, a last remaining sign of the intense police scene the area saw just a day before.
MORE: Police investigating double homicide after 2 found dead in San Jose apartment
"I saw them knock down the gate," said Benajmin Le who witnessed the police response. "Nobody knew how to keep it open."
Le says he lives just a couple of doors down from the home that police surrounded during a 4-hour standoff with the suspect.
"They came upstairs, knocked on our house and then was like, 'Hey, we got to escort you out,'" Le said. "It was my fiancé and I kind of sandwiched between two police officers."
Police say the two responding officers were ambushed just 30 seconds after arriving to the condo-complex. When one officer yelled "San Jose Police come on out," Carreras allegedly came out of a balcony door and fired a gun.
MORE: 2 Santa Clara Sheriff's deputies die within 1 week in separate incidents
"The suspect exited onto the balcony's landing and from a position of concealment, discharged a firearm, striking our officer," said San Jose Police Chief Anthony Mata at a Wednesday evening press conference.
The officer was struck in her in the abdomen, below her bulletproof vest.
Chief Mata said it was a fast response from her partner that helped lead to her survival.
"Without hesitation, or consideration for himself, the officer's partner extracted the officer from the line of fire to a place of safety where he began treat her injuries," Mata said.
MORE: New pilot program aims to build social, community connections in San Jose
That officer is the older brother of Assemblymember Evan Low.
"He's not just my hero," Low said of his brother, "He's San Jose's hero, and I'm so proud of him."
Low raced from the state capitol to be with his brother. More than 24 hours after the shooting, Low says his brother is working to cope.
"He physically is doing well," Low said. "But I know that he is still very tense and recapping and replaying in his mind what transpired."
INTERACTIVE: Take a look at the ABC7 Neighborhood Safety Tracker
As more news on the injured officer's condition is awaited, Low says the tragic situation is a wakeup call.
"It's just a stark reminder about this heroism that we see displayed each and every day," he said.
Neighbors who say they've met the suspect are still trying to come to terms with the news.
"We talked about it with all of our neighbors," said neighbor Joshua Garcia.
"I haven't really processed it," he said, "It's a weird situation. Definitely, just a weird situation."
Carreras was denied bail in his first court appearance Friday.
He's expected again in court Oct. 27
If you're on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live
