“I don't think there should ever be a time where a student who's trying to work on a paper should look out his window and see a dead body,” said Richard Scholz, a San Jose State aviation senior, over the phone.
Scholz said he witnessed Sunday night’s fatal mass stabbing at the Grace Baptist Church located across the street from SJSU because he lives right behind the church at the SJSU Theta Chi fraternity house on East San Fernando and 11th streets.
San Jose police officers surrounded the church at approximately 8 p.m., after responding to five stabbing victims, according to a Monday SJPD news release.
An adult male was pronounced dead at the scene and an adult female was transported to a local hospital where she succumbed to her injuries, according to the news release. Three other men were transported to local hospitals and are in serious but stable condition.
The murders marked the 40 and 41 homicides of 2020 in San Jose.
The news release stated that the motive and circumstances surrounding the homicides are under investigation, but there is currently one adult male suspect in custody.
Scholz, the SJSU Theta Chi vice president, said the fraternity’s president notified other members about the crime and instructed them to stay inside.
“We went downstairs and I could see through the window that looks into the church. There was a door open in their kitchen and we could see a body on the ground . . . lying in a pool of blood,” he said.
According to the news release, the church operates as a homeless shelter and was not holding religious services at the time of the incident.
Richard Morales, a homeless San Jose native, was looking for shelter at the church Sunday night but was dismissed by police at the crime scene with nowhere else to go for the night.
“I just called [pastor Philip Flores Jr.], I told him I was gonna be late,” he said. “Of all days, I’m late and this shit happens.”
Communications junior Alison Ross-Medina said she was also near the scene at the Delta Zeta sorority house on East San Fernando and 11th streets.
“It’s honestly really unsettling,” she said over text. “We all knew San Jose wasn’t the safest city in the world, but for there to be a murder across the street from the place you consider home really changes your perspective.”
Ross-Medina said she saw cop cars and ambulances flood the streets and heard clamorous screams but couldn't tell if the yelling came from police, victims or witnesses.
Scholz said the University Police Department should have weekly evening patrols to better protect off-campus student organizations and housing.
“This could have easily been one of our members,” he said. “I think it's as simple as having police officers do strolls near Greek life and these areas with student populations . . . just so that people know that this area is protected by a police officer.”
