SAN JOSE — A fatal double shooting that occurred in a West San Jose shopping center parking lot on Tuesday involved a man who confronted his ex-girlfriend and shot her before shooting himself, police said.
Officers were called at 11:38 a.m. to the 500 block of El Paseo de Saratoga for a shooting report, and found a man and woman lying on the ground in the lot suffering from gunshot wounds, according to the San Jose Police Department. They were both pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said an ensuing investigation determined that the man and woman had “a prior dating relationship that ended several months earlier,” and that the man approached her “and shot her multiple times before turning the firearm on himself, killing them both.”
Investigators recovered the gun believed to have been used in the fatal shooting, police said.
Other than disclosing their romantic ties, police said other details, including the precise lead-up to the shooting, were still under investigation.
Police identified the shooter as 43-year-old San Jose resident Edgard Altamirano. According to police and court records, he has no known criminal history in Santa Clara County, and was not the subject of any domestic violence restraining orders or protective orders at the time of the shooting.
The shooting marks the city’s fourth homicide of the year investigated by San Jose police; the city recorded three homicides at the same point in 2025.
The location and nature of the shooting evokes an infamous murder-suicide from 15 years ago that occurred a couple of hundred yards away, within the same shopping complex. On Jan. 15, 2011, Wayne Sanchez confronted and fatally shot Maurice Nasmeh in a Peet’s coffee shop in front of horrified patrons.
Nasmeh had been the prime suspect in the 2001 disappearance and presumed death of Sanchez’s sister, Jeanine Harms. Nasmeh was arrested, charged with her murder, and spent two years incarcerated before charges were dismissed and he was released in 2007. Harms’ body has never been recovered.
After shooting Nasmeh, Sanchez ran into the parking lot and fatally shot himself as police arrived at the scene.
Anyone with information about Tuesday’s shooting can contact the SJPD homicide unit at 408-277-5283, or email Detective Sgt. Richard Martinez at 3934@sanjoseca.gov or Detective Christina Jize at 4324@sanjoseca.gov. Tips can also be left with Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408-947-7867 or siliconvalleycrimestoppers.org.
If you or someone you know is struggling with feelings of depression or suicidal thoughts, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline offers free, round-the-clock support, information and resources for help. Call or text the lifeline at 988, or see the 988lifeline.org website, where chat is available.
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