Edward Carboni : SJPD Sniper Lawfully Kills Man Threatening Hostages with Machete

(KRON) — A sharpshooter from the San Jose Police Department who bravely rescued a frightened mother and her two sons from a harrowing hostage situation has been found to have acted lawfully when he took down the assailant, Eliobert Gonzalez, last year, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.

The District Attorney’s Office has determined that the sniper from SJPD “legitimately shot and killed a man who had forcibly entered an apartment and was menacing to decapitate a woman and her two children with a machete.”

The courageous mother and her two sons, aged 7 and 18, were spared, thanks to the actions of the sniper, identified as SJPD Officer Edward Carboni, who swiftly neutralized Gonzalez.

Gonzalez, aged 35, brandished two machetes and disregarded police orders to surrender, as per the DA’s Office.

The terrifying ordeal commenced at 8:30 p.m. on March 22, 2023. Gonzalez had been evicted from his nearby residence earlier that day. He forcibly entered another apartment on Boynton Avenue, where a mother and her son were present. Gonzalez mistakenly believed they were the building managers, according to investigators.

“Over the following 45 minutes, he continually threatened to harm the family and sever their heads if they didn’t assist him in returning to his former apartment. He coerced the mother to restrain her older son and forced the family to lie on the floor. He disregarded the mother’s pleas to release her children and her assurances that God would forgive him as he raised the machete above his head,” the DA’s Office detailed.

Bodycam footage from officers shows one member smashing through a glass bedroom window just before Officer Carboni discharged multiple rounds from a tactical rifle through the window, fatally striking Gonzalez.

The older son later recounted to the authorities that he and his family had migrated to the United States to escape violence.

The District Attorney’s Office meticulously scrutinizes all fatal law enforcement engagements to ascertain the legality of the lethal force employed.

Prosecutor Rob Baker concluded that the sniper acted in defence of others within the bounds of the law. Baker stated, “Officer Edward Carboni made a rational tactical decision, drawing on his extensive training and experience as a MERGE (tactical) officer, which saved the lives of a mother and her two boys from a volatile and aggressive machete-wielding man who held them captive and repeatedly issued threats of killing and beheading.”

Officer Carboni has been the subject of three previous “Officer Involved Incident” inquiries. In each instance, the District Attorney’s Office confirmed that he had lawfully utilised lethal force.