SAN JOSE — Two separate shootings last weekend that left a man dead and two women injured occurred at locations that had been under investigation for alleged illegal after-hours activity in defiance of COVID-19 restrictions, according to San Jose police.
As those weekend shootings continued to be investigated, another deadly shooting erupted at Café Paradise on Monterey Road late Tuesday. Police said that location had also been the subject of police calls and complaints about illegally staying open, and appeared to be doing so when the latest violence occurred.
The series of shootings highlight what has been an ongoing issue for law enforcement throughout the area as some businesses defy local health orders banning crowded indoor gatherings, in some instances producing environments for criminal activity and violence.
The fatal shooting in the early-morning hours of Feb. 20 was related to a basement unit in the heart of Japantown that had been suspected by police, the city and local business owners of essentially operating as an underground night club. It was the subject of recent complaints for noise violations and SJPD’s vice unit was in the process of launching a formal probe when the shooting happened.
During the same overnight period across the city there was a shooting at the Agave sports bar and grill on Alma Avenue that has been the subject of repeated police calls and complaints for operating a bar in defiance of indoor dining and gathering bans. Members of the local bar industry familiar with the operation have described it as a speakeasy that gave patrons elaborate instructions on how to avoid detection by authorities.
The SJPD vice unit was also investigating this business when two women were wounded early Saturday, during an apparent struggle over a gun between a patron and security guard that resulted in several wayward shots being fired.
In a statement, City Attorney Nora Frimann declined to specify her office’s involvement in specific investigations but acknowledged that “I can confirm that our office is working with the police department to review evidence of problem activities, contact business operators and property owners, and determine what legal steps may be necessary to ensure these businesses no longer pose problems for our community.”
The shooting on the 100 block of Jackson Street in Japantown involved a basement unit being rented separately from adjacent businesses and residences housed in the same building. Local merchants who spoke to this news organization in confidence out of safety and privacy concerns said there wasn’t a question of whether illegal activity was occurring in the unit, but “how many types of illegal activities” were happening.
This operation was secretive enough that when the shooting occurred overnight between Feb. 19 and 20, police were not even called to the scene. Investigators were alerted when the wounded victim, whose identity is still being confirmed by the coroner’s office, was brought to a local hospital at about 6 a.m. Feb. 20 and died soon after from his injuries.
Working off the hospital notification, San Jose police said officers went to the Jackson Street site and found blood and other evidence of a shooting. Multiple sources told this news organization that the tenant of the basement unit had only been renting for a few weeks at most.
The Agave shooting, reported at 1:42 a.m. earlier that morning, occurred as vice unit investigators were looking at the site for multiple noise complaints and for hosting crowded indoor gatherings. The business spurred “numerous” police calls over the past few months, according to police.
Sources familiar with the bar and investigators said that late-night activity at the site was carefully coordinated, with patrons being told not to park in the adjacent lot — they were advised to take a rideshare service — and that when they got word of police coming, the music and lights were shut off. They essentially waited out officers, who lacking an imminent emergency or probable cause to go inside, could not force entry.
Multiple calls by this news organization to Agave — which is not operated in association with other similarly named businesses downtown and on Monterey Road — went unanswered, and employees on site said no managers were available to talk to a reporter.
The victim in the Café Paradise shooting, identified as 32-year-old Cesar Moreno, died Thursday morning. The coffeehouse, which also operates as a sports-viewing host, is a well known bikini bar in the city. An employee on site similarly told a reporter that no managers were available to answer questions about Tuesday’s shooting, which police said occurred in the parking lot.
Agave and Café Paradise are also among the most prolific violators of Santa Clara County COVID-19 health orders, according to data provided to this news organization in response to a public-records request. Café Paradise has racked up $42,250 in fines from the county since late September and Agave has amassed $26,750 in fines since October after initially complying with a warning from the county.
Neither business has paid any of the fines as of February 9, according to those records.
No suspects in any of the shootings have been publicly identified, and motives behind the attacks, beyond the reported fight over a gun at Agave, remain under investigation.
Staff writer Maggie Angst contributed to this report.
